Free To Be Me
by HowCouldThisHappenToMe
Summary: Sequel to "Truth Beneath the Rose." My father had left me with only a fist-sized, silver sphere the day he had gone. I was always thankful to have that much. Little did I know, my father had left me with so much more. Second in the Treasure Hunter Trilogy
1. Chapter 1

**Okay... Lots of thank-yous going out with this one.**

**First, I would like to thank swiftwings13. They gave me the basic starting idea for this story and I don't think I'd be writing a this story if it wasn't for them.**

**Second, I would like to thank Solaris Prime for allowing me to use his OC. I had gotten the idea of how to make this a great story, but only with using his character, so thank you very much, Sol.**

**Now, for a quick advertisment: I've made a Treasure Planet RPG and we are in need of members. It'll be following the storyline of the movie, but with extra stuff added in. I need fans like you to join and play as the characters. To sign up, all I need you to do is read everything in the "Basics" section (Except for the Chatting area) and follow all the rules for becoming a member. For all those interested, the website is posted on my profile. Please go there and sign up. It's going to be like "Truthe Beneath the Rose" but with more.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. The basic idea belongs to swiftwings13, though many of the details of the story are mine. Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up!" A few happy chattering noises followed. I heard a groan from beside me.

"How do you strangle protoplasm?" my husband of two months muttered. I chuckled quietly before sitting up and stretching. I took the protoplasm in question in my hands and cuddled him to my cheek.

"It's impossible. I've tried and given up long ago," I answered.

The man beside me turned onto his side and covered his head with a pillow. The transparent, pink blob in my hands flew over to him and turned into an alarm clock, buzzing loudly. I covered my ears and started laughing as Jim sat up and tried swatting at Morph.

"Alright, I'm awake!" he yelled before slumping forward and groaning again.

Feeling pleased with himself, Morph darted across the room while I draped my arms over Jim's shoulders, hugging him from behind. I gently kissed the nape of his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. Morph then floated aback over to us, but he now had a fist-sized, silver sphere in his mouth. My eyes widened and I gasped as I recognized the sphere as the one my father had given me the last time I'd seen him. It was the only thing I had from him and I always kept it on the top of my dresser, where it would be safe.

"Morph, put that down!" I ordered. He did so, but not in the way I had hoped. Morph dropped the metal orb and it landed with an unpleasant _thud_. I scrambled off the bed, nearly falling off in the process, and grabbed the sphere. Upon inspection, I found that a piece of it had come loose and was sticking out. "Oh, no!"

"Did it break?" Jim asked, coming up from behind me.

"I hope no." I carefully pressed the loose, circular part into place, only to hear clicking coming from with in the sphere. The top of it opened and a blue light flooded out.

"Well… this is new." I nodded slowly in agreement as I stared around me in awe. A rid of light surrounded us, as well as holographic planets, and I immediately recognized it as a map.

"Whoa," I breathed.

This certainly _was_ different from what I had seen the last time the sphere had been opened. Last time, I'd gotten a message from my father, telling me how proud he as of me. I took a step forward and tapped the holographic image of Montressor, the planet Jim and I called home. The map shifted and I glanced around to see a few planets pass by. It soon came to a stop at a planet that appeared to be only a two-week long voyage away. I was extremely surprised by how close the destination of this map was.

"Looks like ya finally found the map, Em," my father's voice said and I jumped in surprise, only to realize it was a recording. "I put this in my gift to ya, just in case you and Jimbo ever wanted to find me. Ya both _are_ adventure-seekers. Ya can find me on the planet Ethrum. Just follow the map. And Em, I got a little surprise for ya, if ya want to come."

The blue light retracted into the sphere in my hands. I stared ahead in complete and utter shock. I considered slapping myself to make sure I was awake. Jim rested a hand on my shoulder and I turned to face him, my eyes still wide.

"Ember, you okay?" he asked. I smiled at him and nodded.

"I think we should go," I answered. Jim blinked a few times in surprise and Morph chattered excitedly. "Just to see Dad again. Besides, he tempted me with this hidden surprise." My husband chuckled and shook his head.

"You can't resist any challenge, can you?"

"I'm a pirate, Jim. Always will be."

"I know. You realize this could take a little while, right?"

"I have faith in you, Captain Hawkins," I answered and kissed him gently.

* * *

Not even a month later, Jim and I had landed on the planet Ethrum, where my fathers' map had led us. I looked over at Jim and smiled as he motioned for me to step off the longboat first. He was dressed in a pair of loose blue jeans, brown boots and a loose tan shirt. His outfit reminded me of our voyage on the RLS Legacy, when we met. The biggest difference was in his physical appearance, though not much had changed. Jim had long since gotten rid of his earring and cut his hair to be shorter. He was also more muscular, from working on a ship so much. My own appearance hadn't changed all that much. I still had the same slender form and long brown hair. I merely grew more mature. My outfit was very much like the one I had been seen in when I was first mate of my father's ship. I now wore a pair of loose black pants, brown boots, a red V-neck shirt with only the slightest of sleeves, and a black belt just under my bust-line. I also wore the black jacket I owned that was very much like my father's.

"After you," Jim said, moving to allow me off first. I jumped off the boat and he followed right behind me as we began walking into the town we had been led to.

"Well, this certainly seems like the kind of place Dad would go to lie low for a while," I muttered.

The town was almost completely empty. The few people on the streets didn't seem particularly friendly either. In fact, they reminded me of pirates themselves. Morph floated so he was right beside my head and I could tell he was a bit uneasy because of these men. Jim and I walked into a building named the Zeerover Inn, where we'd been instructed to go. Every head turned to stare at us, but I didn't care. I'd been accustomed to such things since childhood.

"We're looking for John Silver," Jim said, a tone of authority in his voice.

Someone by the wall stood up and I turned my head to look at him. He appeared to be my age, nineteen. He had thick silver hair that reached to about the middle of his ear, blood red eyes and looked as though he could be very flexible, based on how lean he was. The young man wore a pair of dark blue jeans, black boots, a red shirt, a black jacket that was left unzipped and had an army-green scarf wrapped around his neck. He looked vaguely familiar to me, as if I'd seen him before, but I didn't know where.

"What do you want with my father?" he demanded.

"What?!" I asked in shock.

* * *

**And that is the end of chapter one. Nice twist, huh? Please R&R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to the next chapter of this story. I hope you're enjoying it so far. I know I'm enjoying writing it. I love having Gale in as a twist, not gonna lie. His character makes things so much more interesting. And let me tell you, I have a basic idea of where I want this to go, but there are some components that are just taking a mind of their own, as you will see at the end of this chapter. No cheating by looking ahead. Read the whole chapter first. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters belonging to it. The inspiration for this story came from swiftwings13 and Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

* * *

I stared at the silver-haired stranger with my mouth agape, unable to form a coherent sentence. I had heard him right? Did he really say John Silver was his father? But, how could that be? I noticed light reflecting off of something in his hand and glanced down to see a sphere much like my own.

"Who _are _you?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same," the man answered. Jim stepped forward and I glanced at him with worry. What if this guy had a weapon? I didn't doubt it. Everyone in this town probably had one.

"My name's Jim Hawkins and she's Ember. Silver's someone we know very well," my husband said, trying to keep the situation as calm as possible.

"How do you know him?"

"He's _my_ father," I answered and the other man looked at me in surprise. "So, following logic, either we are brother and sister, or one of us is lying."

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

"I was told to come here by my… our father. I've got the map to prove it. Now, who are you?"

"Gale Hollow."

"How do you have a different-" Jim started.

"None of your business," Gale snapped, interrupting my husband. I stepped forward, Morph still floating by my head.

"Fair enough. If you don't mind, though, I'd rather we continue this conversation privately," I said, glancing pointedly at a couple of the other people in the tavern.

Gale nodded curtly and motioned for us to follow him. He led us up the stairs, to room 23. I recognized it as the room number another part of our map had directed us to go. Jim closed the door behind us and I watched Gale cautiously as he stood on the other side of the room, his stance rigid.

"Let's see it," he said.

"You too," I answered. "That sphere in your hand _is_ a map, isn't it?"

"You're good, Ember."

Gale held up his silver orb as I did with mine. Jim stood next to me, Morph sitting on his shoulder. Gale and I opened our maps at the same time, but rather than a grid of blue light flooding the room, the two spheres projected to form one image of my father.

"I'd hoped ya wouldn't have to find out this way, Em and Wind. I planned on bein' there when ya came to Ethrum. But, if you're seenin' this, it means somethin's happened to me. I need ya both to know you're family. Em, Gale's your brother and Wind, Ember's your sister. Ya deserved to know," the holographic image explained and then disappeared. I covered my mouth with my hand and stared at Gale. His eyes were wide as well, but I could also see some kind of anger in them. The room was utterly silent; even Morph hadn't made a sound.

"How?" I whispered, taking a step back.

"Who cares how?!" Gale demanded, his rage showing. Somehow, I knew what I saw was only the tip of the iceberg. "All that matters is finding him!"

I blinked a couple times in surprise. Anyone else in this type of situation would be asking how we were siblings. Gale didn't care about that, or at least, it wasn't as important as finding our father. I couldn't agree more. Of course, discovering I had a brother was strange, but it paled in comparison to finding my dad.

"How do you plan to find him? You have no idea where he could be," Jim pointed out.

"That doesn't matter," Gale and I answered in unison. I glanced at him with a smirk.

"We're going to need some kind of lead on what might have happened to him."

"Well, this is the place he chose for lying low. Maybe the people around here have seen him. They might know when he disappeared," I said, thinking aloud.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Gale demanded.

"Because we're going to need each other's help if we're ever going to find our father. I haven't seen him since I was sixteen, when I chose to settle down on Montressor. What about you?"

"Not since I was a kid, but we never had any problems outside of the norm."

"The norm?" Jim asked. "What does that include?"

"Anything a pirate can encounter," I answered over my shoulder. "Raiding another ship, being raided, police. Remember, Jim, we're a dying breed. Cadets like the ones you trained with at the Space Academy are slowly wiping us out." I turned my attention back towards Gale, only to find a gun in each of his hands. They were pointed at Jim and me. My eyes widened in shock as I stared into the barrel of the laser gun in front of me.

"You're on _their_ side! You probably set him up to be taken, didn't you?!" Gale demanded. "And now you've come for me!"

"Gale, please, calm down," I said, inching forward.

"Don't move!" I stopped where I was and stared him in the eyes. Gale was obviously angry, but I couldn't tell exactly what had triggered this sudden outburst. No pun intended.

"Alright, alright. Just put the guns down. We're not here to turn you in to anyone. I didn't even know about you. Jim and I came because we wanted to see Dad again. I'm just as shocked by his disappearance as you are, and I understand that you're angry. Just, please, put the guns down." Gale's harsh red eyes glared down at me and I couldn't help but feel intimidated. He was obviously the kind of man who wouldn't hesitate in getting rid of anyone he felt threatened him. And yet, he hadn't shot yet. "Gale, I'm not asking you to trust us with your life. I just want you to put down your weapons. We're unarmed. The best weapons we've got are combat skills and a morph."

He slowly lowered the guns, but kept his eyes trained on Jim and me. At that point, it was enough for me. If we were ever going to work together to find our father, we definitely needed to get over these trust issues. That was a different problem for another time, though. What really mattered was getting the information we needed to find our father.

"If we're going to find Silver, you're going to have to trust us," Jim said, sounding confident.

"Jim, you obviously forgot how things work," I told him. "All we need in order to be able to work together is a mutual agreement. Pirates rarely trust anyone. Before you came along, I only trusted my father. So, Gale, why don't we sit down and talk over this agreement?"

"Only if you tell me what a rule-follower like him is doing, trying to find my father," he answered. I glanced back at Jim, allowing him to tell the story.

"I met Silver and Ember when I was fifteen. I was in trouble with the law at the time and looking to find Treasure Planet. Silver taught me and encouraged me to do better. That's why I'm here," my husband explained, boiling down the story to its most basic form.

Gale nodded, but he seemed apprehensive still. I couldn't blame him. I probably would have reacted the same way, had our roles been reversed. Morph darted past my head and towards Gale. I tried to reach out and stop him, but he slipped right through my fingers. Here's a tip: Don't try to stop a morph from doing what he wants because you'll only be wasting your efforts. Morph went up to Gale's face, causing him to move back a little, and glanced over the young man. It was almost as if he recognized Gale from somewhere, like me.

Morph then transformed in to the miniature of a young woman with short silver hair, like Gale's, who was very slender. Actually, she looked very much like Gale. The small figure began moving like an acrobat on a tight-rope. Morph then turned back into his usual form and began chattering happily. I had no idea who that woman could have been, but Gale obviously did. His eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and rage. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it made my brother ready to kill. Well, this was certainly a turn for the worse.

* * *

**Can you say, "Understatement of the Year?" Well, hope you guys are liking this. Please R&R.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes, my friends, I have finally updated this. I was a little stuck for a few days, but I finally got chapter three done today. I feel so proud of myself. And, I must say, I really hope I'm doing a good job with Solaris Prime's character, Gale Hollow. Sol, if there's anything you think I'd need to fix about Gale's behavior, don't hesitate to let me know. However, I could see him doing what I have him happening towards the end of the chapter. :D Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. The inspiration for this story came from Swiftwings13 and Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

* * *

Staring into enraged, blood-red eyes would have been enough to make even the toughest pirate run. It took all my willpower not to do the same. I couldn't stop myself from trembling in fear, though, and I knew Jim must have realized how affected I was by my brother's harsh gaze. As terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to look away from his eyes. Morph trembled in front of me as well.

"How does that _thing_ know about her?" Gale demanded, his voice taking on a growling tone.

"I d-don't know," I answered shakily. I didn't dare ask who the woman was. Gale glared down at Morph, causing the little pink blob to tremble even more. He looked like Jell-o.

"Where have you seen her?" my brother asked darkly. That was what finally did Morph in. He completely turned into mush and fell to the floor, landing with a sickening slopping sound. I stared down at poor Morph and frowned. Looking back at Gale, I could hear a growl in the back of his throat.

"Gale, stop it!" My voice wasn't nearly as powerful as I would have liked, being at a higher pitch than usual. It did, however, cause him to pay more attention to what I was saying. At that exact moment, I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "We're not your enemy. I just want to find our father. I'd like to think you'd share the same feelings." Gale sighed through his teeth and I could tell he was trying to get a grip on his anger.

"Right. Then let's focus on finding him."

"First, we're setting up our agreement. Please, take a seat and we'll talk this out _calmly_." All of us sat at the small wooden table that was provided in the room. It looked like it would fall with little difficulty. Morph had now gathered himself together and hid behind my neck, while Jim sat to my right; Gale was across from us.

"We're keeping this as simple as possible," my brother said, obviously not wanting to waste time.

"My thoughts exactly. Since we're looking for our father, we just need to work together, bring any information we have, or gather to the table. Then, we stick together until our father is found. That's as simple as it gets," I answered, holding out a hand. Gale shook it and we were ready to begin.

"Then we'll split up and ask around. Report back here in twenty minutes." With that, we all stood up and left the room. Gale started down the stairs and Jim grabbed my arm to keep me from going too far.

"Do you trust him?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I trust him enough to help me find my dad. Beyond that, no. Now come on. We've got some interrogations to do," I answered with a smirk. Jim and I walked downstairs into the tavern and split up to ask around. "Have you heard of a man by the name of John Silver around here?" I asked a Zirrelian man. He trembled slightly and shook his head. I was sure there was something more to it, based on the fear he was showing.

"No," he said.

"You don't understand. He's my father and I really need to find him. Maybe if I describe him to you, that might jog your memory."

"I don't know how he is," the man answered and walked away, leaving the tavern.

All of my questioning went much the same. These men seemed to be deathly afraid of something, or someone, that might harm them if they gave any information on my father's whereabouts. I leaned against an empty table and put my hand over my mouth, trying to reason out why that may be.

"Don't make me ask you again!" Gale yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked around, only to see him holding a small, trembling alien man by the collar. I ran across the room and was about to stop my brother when his victim spoke.

"H-He was taken by p-pirates. They said if we told anyone anything, they'd kill us all!" the small man cried.

"Who took him?"

"I…I…"

"Answer me!"

"I don't know!" Gale whipped out one of his guns and held it to the man's head.

"Who took my father?" he asked menacingly.

"Gale, stop it!" I yelled, putting my hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Not until I get answers!"

"And _this_ is how you plan to do that?!"

"Well, how's your method been working out?" my brother asked. He then turned his attention back to the man in his grasp. "Now, who took John Silver."

"I don't know!"

"Wrong answer." Gale started to pull the trigger on his gun.

"Wait! Wait! Th-they said something a-a-about going to Merkitan!" the man answered, covering his face with his arms.

"Looks like you remember more than you thought." The crowd that had gathered was utterly still. The only movement came from Morph, Gale, his hostage, and me. "Let's see what else we can bring up."

"I know nothing else, I swear!"

"Really? Because I'm sure you could describe who took my father, with the right incentive." I could hear the gun in his hand humming as it charged up.

"Morph, change into whatever he describes," I ordered and the pink blob saluted me in answer.

"He… He was a Felinid, with black fur and yellow eyes. He looked like… like a panther," the man explained and Morph transformed into the basic form of a Panther-Felinid. "No, taller."

"That thing can only go so big. I hope you mean proportionally," Gale said and I glared at him. Morph wasn't just a _thing._

The man nodded at my brother's words and continued giving Morph directions. In the end, Morph looked very much like a black panther standing upright, wearing loose, tan pants and a red shirt. He looked very muscular, as if he did a lot of hard work. "Are you sure that's what he looks like? Think hard on this one," Gale said, inching his gun closer the man's head.

"That's him! That's him!" Gale dropped the man and glanced around. The other men began trembling in fear again.

"Anyone have any objections to this image? If I find out it's wrong, I'll come back and kill every one of you."

No one moved. Gale nodded and began walking back up the stairs leading to the inn room we were using. Jim and I glanced at each other before running after him, Morph right behind us in his usual gelatinous form. Once inside our room again, I glared at Gale harshly.

"What was that?!" I demanded.

"Gathering information," he answered simply, sitting on the edge of one of the beds.

"That was crazy! What if that man truly didn't know anything about our father?!"

"But he did. There's no way you're my sister."

"Excuse me?!"

"Most of my personality comes from Dad. If you were anything like him, you'd've done the same."

"I mellowed out."

"Or softened up. Either way, you're not much of a pirate." I scowled at him, but didn't say anything. Words wouldn't prove to him I could be just as ruthless as I once was. Only actions would show that, and it would have to wait.

"We know where we're going. We should leave for Merkitan as soon as possible," Jim interrupted.

"You have a crew?" Gale asked. "Because I sure don't." I glanced at my husband and smirked.

"Not yet, but I can get one that would be more than willing to join us," I answered.

"Ember, you're not thinking of-" Jim started.

"Yes, I am."

* * *

**Alright, I'm sure you can all guess what Ember's planning. Man, that's going to be fun to write... By the way, I've already started writing some of chapter four (though I'm not that the part that Em's talking about) and I'm going to give you a little head's up. There's is going to be a MAJOR twist in this story... **

**Honestly, I wasn't even planning on it, but it... just happened. And it's PERFECT! So, I don't think even mind-reader Sol will be able to guess this one... No offence, Sol.**

**Well, please R&R.**


	4. Chapter 4

**First off, I'm going to start by letting you guys know that this chapter actually starts off in the Third-person POV, and then goes back to Ember's. This is going to be that little plot twist I told you about... that happened out of the blue... Sometimes, I really love when a story writes itself. Anyway, enjoy. Oh, and as for Gale... this chapter is going to be less of the rage... and more of the sarcastic side of him. I love this character.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet. The inspiration for this story came from swiftwings13. Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

* * *

John Silver closed his eyes with a tired sigh. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in this infernal cell, but it was far too long for his tastes. The cell he was trapped within was dark, with only a dim red light shining in. Even with his cyborg eyes, he couldn't see many more details of the room. All he needed to know was that he was within an empty cell with a thick metal door directly in front of him. In the door, there was a small opening, where three metal bars blocked any means of escape, if he could move in the first place. The laser-tether shackles he wore kept him from crossing more than half the room. The sound of footsteps alerted him to someone's approach. Silver opened his eyes to see the outline of a Canid man. He couldn't see the man's face, but knew who he was, all too well.

"What do ya want?" Silver demanded.

"John, Silver, you old fool. You knew what happens to Children of Water, and yet you have two of them. You even tried to hide what they were by naming them after two different elements, but you couldn't fool me," the man answered with a dark chuckle.

"I was afraid this'd happen to Gale, but not Em."

"You should have figured out what her mother's name meant first. 'Heaven's dew.' Honestly, John, you've only brought this upon yourself. Soon, your children will be mine."

"You won't touch them!"

"I may not have to. Such a pity, too. Your daughter was beautiful."

"Was?" Silver asked, fearing the worst for his children.

"Calm down, old fool. They're still alive, but they'll be corpses by the time _you_ see them again." The man walked away with a sinister grin and Silver howled in anguish.

* * *

"Ember, this crazy. No, this isn't just crazy, it's stupid," Jim whispered harshly. He, Gale and I were standing behind an old building a short distance from the prison my crew was being kept.

"Shut up, Jim. Do you know anyone better for the job of finding my pirate father without arresting him?" I hissed.

"Now you're acting more like a pirate," Gale whispered with a smirk and I smiled. We were just waiting for the right moment to enter the prison and break my father's old crew out.

"Do you even know where they are?" Jim hissed and my smile faltered. That was the small detail I'd neglected think of when I planned this little jailbreak.

"No," I admitted and Gale groaned quietly. "But I know how to find them."

"What?"

"You think my dad's crew and I wouldn't have come up with some kind of unspoken language? How else do you think I was able to control them without you, Arrow or Amelia knowing?"

"What about the Doc?"

"That man's oblivious to half the world around him."

"This is a _lovely_ conversation," Gale whispered, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "but can we hurry this up? I'd like to be out of here as soon as possible and on to finding our father."

"Right. Of course. What we're going to do is sneak in through that window up there."

"Great plan, but how do you expect us to get to the second floor without being caught?" I rolled my eyes at my brother's sarcastic remark. Oh, ye of little faith. I glanced at him and my husband, taking note of the all-black clothes I had made us all wear.

"We're dressed in black, it's the middle of the night and Jim has some old hover-disks that we've been modifying. I think it's time we test these puppies out."

"You've lost your mind!" Jim exclaimed in a whisper.

"Do I have wires sticking out of my head? I think not." Gale gave me an odd look. "Long story. Now come on." I grabbed the six, dinner-plate sized disks and passed around two to each of us. I flicked mine on and jumped onto them, firmly planting my feet on each of them.

"How do we move these things?" Gale asked as he and Jim got onto their disks.

"Lean in the direction you want to go, that's all," I answered. With a nod, the three of us hovered up above the building we'd been hiding behind.

"Ember, how much do you know about the security system here?" Jim asked and I rolled my eyes.

"I studied up on it, just in case we ran into any problems. We're in the clear for the next three minutes, now hurry up or we'll have to wait another day." I pulled a screwdriver out of my pocket as the three of us just about flew to the window we'd be using as our entryway. I jammed the screwdriver into the windowsill and wedged the window open.

"No alarms?" Gale asked in a whisper.

"Like I said, three minutes in the middle of the night. That's when almost everything shuts down. It's a glitch in the system that the inmates don't know about."

"And how do you know?"

"BEN."

"Who in the Etherium is Ben?" he asked as we slipped into the prison.

"A very helpful friend. Now, shh."

Gale glared at me, but I walked past him and into the dark hallway. All was silent, but for our footsteps and the snoring of various men. I tapped lightly on a metal bar near me, sending a quick message in the code the crew and I had come up with long ago. I listened intently, but didn't hear more than I had before. Then…

"Well," Gale prompted.

"Shh. I think I hear something," I hissed. I listened closer and heard the light rattling of metal on metal, in our code. I motioned for Jim and Gale to follow me and ran to follow the sound. I stopped at one of the cells to see Mr. Onus.

"First mate Silver," the Optoc exclaimed in a whisper and blinked his dozens of eyes in surprise.

"Actually, it's Hawkins now. Mr. Onus, where are the rest of the men?" I asked. He told me every cell they were in, each close by.

"But why are you here?"

"Dad's been captured and we need the crew to help find him."

"The Capteen? How?"

"Don't know. Will you help me, old friend?"

"Of course, Ember, but I don't know about zee rest."

"Then we'll take what we can get. Jim, hand em the laser-pick."

My husband gave me the small, pen-sized device and I shocked Mr. Onus' shackles to make them stay dormant, even if he was gone. Once he was free, the three of us went around, freeing each and every member of my father's crew. They all wanted to escape, probably more than the resentment they felt towards my father for leaving. Then again, they'd sworn loyalty to him and me… for life.

"How are we going to get these two out of here?" Gale asked, jerking his thumb towards the four-armed one I'd nicknamed Grappler and the living torso, Remus. His twin brother, Romulus, rested on top of him.

"We have to take a few out at a time. Because that window's still open, it doesn't register that anyone broke in. We're almost done here. Lead up and get my crew out of here," I answered, pulling Mr. Onus, Romulus, and Mr. Splice onto the hover-disks with me. Once we had gotten a little less than half of them out, an alarm was tripped. Jim, Gale and I were back in our hideaway building with the crew members we'd been able to free.

"Nice going, sis. We've got half a crew and we're stuck in an old building," Gale muttered.

"Stuff it. I didn't trip the alarm. It was probably Dogbreath."

"Who?"

"One of the stupider members of Dad's crew."

"Which we only have half of."

"Then we'll all just have to work harder to make up for it. Just be thankful we have a crew at all."

"Will both of you quit arguing?!" Jim yelled, commanding our attention.

"Capteen Hawkeens?" Mr. Onus said.

"What?"

"No. Capteen." He pointed to me and I stared at him in surprise. In the absence of my father, I was to become captain of the crew. It was now time for me to take that responsibility.

"Aye, Mr. Onus," I answered.

"Who ees he?" he asked, pointing to Gale.

"He's Gale Hollow, my brother. And now, we're going to get Morph from the Inn and head out to find my father."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" my crew answered.

* * *

**HAHA! Ember's captain now... How's Gale gonna be taking this? And I bet y'all are wondering about this whole "Children of Water" thing, aren't you... well, so am I... lol. Like I said, it came out of nowhere. I've got to work out all the kinks (such as just exactly why they are so important), but that'll probably work itself out, like the rest of this story so far. :D**

**Well, hope you liked it. Please R&R.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, I have finally gotten around to write this chapter... It's not as long as I would have liked, but still pretty decent. I'm still making my three-page average, so I guess that's good. lol. Anyway, enjoy. :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. The most basic form of the idea for this story comes from swiftwings13. Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

* * *

Smooth sailing for the first few days was to be expected. After all, how much could have possibly happened in the first week of a voyage. The crew even seemed to accept letting Gale work on the ship with them. They did, however, seem apprehensive and I could understand why. Gale also seemed put off by the arrangements and I had found him ordering my crew more than a few times. I was in the bridge with Jim when Mr. Splice came up to me.

"How's that boy related to ya?" he asked, jerking an appendage towards Gale, who was hanging in the shrouds.

"He's my brother and I'd guess half-brother, considering we look nothing alike."

"Ya trust 'im?"

"To an extent."

"The crew's not likin' 'im much. He's tryin' to take yer place, Em."

"How bad is it?"

"Hands might snap soon," Splice answered, referring to the one I called Grappler. I nodded and turned my gaze back towards Gale.

"Jim, you take over for a bit. I'm going to have a little chat with my brother. Mr. Splice, resume your position."

"Aye, Cap'n," he answered and left quickly.

"Ember," Jim said, causing me to turn to face him. "Be careful. He's dangerous."

"I know, Jim. I will," I answered and walked down onto the deck. I joined Gale in the shrouds, staring out into space around us. Admittedly, the view was beautiful. With the stars shining brightly in and endless sea of black, along with the various colors of dust-clouds and auroras, it was truly a sight to behold. Views like that really made me miss sailing with my father.

"It's beautiful," I murmured.

"That it is, but I get the feeling you came to talk about more than just the view," Gale answered with a shrug and I frowned.

"Right." I swung around the shrouds and back onto the deck. "I wanted to talk to you about the crew."

"What about them?"

"You realize you're not the one in charge on this ship, right?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Gale was still staring out into the Etherium, not looking at me.

"You need to stop ordering them like you have been. I don't want a fight to break out," I answered. My brother finally turned his head to look at me, his eyes sharp.

"And who says you can order me around? The crew is our father's. They're just as much mine as they are yours," he said harshly.

"They swore their loyalty to Dad and me. If anything were to happen to him, as it has, I become captain. But I think you already knew that." Gale jumped down from the shrouds and stood before me. He was about the same height as Jim, maybe taller, and stared down into my eyes.

"I don't take orders from anyone."

"Well, start learning. You're on this ship and I'm captain. You can start by refraining from ordering _my_ crew."

"I told you, I don't take orders!" Gale was speaking through clenched teeth and I could tell he was trying to hold back his anger.

"Well, you're not going to be giving any either," I answered sternly before turning to walk back up to the bridge. As I stood beside my husband, I couldn't help but notice his concerned stare.

"You didn't want to end the conversation there, did you?" he asked. I sighed and looked over at him.

"No, I didn't, but I didn't have any other choice. Like you said, he's dangerous. I'm still trying to figure him out."

"Just please be careful around him, Ember. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll be fine, Jim. I promise," I answered with a smile and gently kissed him. Someone cleared his throat from behind me and I turned to see Romulus and Remus. I blushed slightly as I turned to fully faced them. As long as I had been with Jim, I was still uncomfortable showing my softer side around the crew.

"What is it, boys?" I asked, fully regaining my composure.

"Mr. Onus spotted a ship in the distance. What are your orders?" Romulus asked.

"Keep a safe distance until Mr. Onus can identify whether or not it's another pirate crew," I answered.

"Aye, Cap'n," the twins answered and left. I watched as Romulus climbed into the rigging, towards the crow's-nest, to relay the message to Mr. Onus.

"You're doing pretty good, for this being your first time as captain," Jim said.

"You know as well as I do that this is only the beginning. It's bound to get worse," I murmured.

"What'll you do if it's a pirate ship?"

"I don't know. Let's hope it isn't."

"Attack them before they attack you," Gale's voice answered. I leaned over the edge of the bridge to see him leaning on the wall.

"We only have half a crew, remember?"

"Then we'll work harder to make up for it. Isn't that what you said?" I scowled at my brother and pushed away from the railing. I didn't need to be picking fights with my brother when I had to run a ship.

"For all we know, it's just a cargo ship. We may not have to do anything," I answered. Gale shrugged his shoulders and pushed off the wall, walking off to another part of the deck. Fifteen minutes later, I glanced up to see fear on my lookout's face.

"Capteen!" Mr. Onus yelled.

"Looks like Gale was right," Jim mumbled.

"Shut up," I muttered and leapt over the railing to the deck. "To your stations, men! Avoid that ship at all costs!"

* * *

**Yes, I'm going be spicing this up a bit. I think I may even have an idea what this whole "Children of Water" thing is about... but I'm going to have to talk to Sol about it first. After all, it's his OC too. So, Sol, I'll probably be PMing you on the RPG about this. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please R&R.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, here's the next chapter of "Free To Be Me". Sadly, I didn't make my three-page average. I hope I made up for it by adding suspense, though. -crosses fingers and hopes for the best- Well, hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. The most basic form of this story's idea comes from swiftwings13. Gale Hollow belongs to my good friend, Solaris Prime.**

* * *

"What are the odds of coming across pirates so early in a voyage?" Jim asked as he ran alongside me.

"Pretty low," I answered and pulled myself into the shrouds. I hurried up into the rigging, making my way to the crow's-nest in a matter of minutes. "Mr. Onus, where are they coming from?"

"Straight ahead. Zey're coming right at us, Capteen," he answered, pointing a tentacle ahead. I followed the gesture to see a ship about the size of ours. Mr. Onus was right; they were headed straight towards us.

"Damn. Mr. Onus, keep watch on it. We're going to try and avoid them. If they continue to come at us, let me know."

"Aye, aye." I lowered myself back down to the deck, swinging from various ropes on my way, and landed solidly. I couldn't help but smirk as I ran across the deck. When I was still the first mate of my father's ship, I'd never been able to move that confidently through the rigging. Now, it was second-nature. I spotted Gale leaning out past the shrouds and ran up to him.

"Gale, what are you doing?" I asked. He didn't answer me and, instead, ran up the stairs leading to the quarter deck. That was where the helm was located. "Gale, don't!" Either he didn't hear me or chose not to, because he merely continued up towards the helm. I scowled, but was unable to follow him. I needed to keep everyone at their stations while we tried to pass this ship. I could only hope Gale wouldn't steer us into disaster.

"Ember!" Jim called as he ran up to me.

"Jim, go to the helm and make sure Gale's not trying to take over our course."

"Right."

Jim ran past me while I continued across the deck, taking a seat at one of the laser cannons. The ship was pulled sharply to the left and I was almost thrown out of my chair. I could only pray Jim and Gale weren't fighting over the wheel. If so, I was afraid I'd lose Jim to the barrel of a gun. I heard a gunshot and my heart stopped, as did my breath. I turned my head towards the quarterdeck in time to see the laser that was shot into the air disappear. I sighed softly and turned my attention back towards the ship headed our way, making a mental note to yell at Gale later. We took another sharp left, turning even farther away from the other pirates. I gritted my teeth and held onto the cannon as tight as I could.

Once we steadied, I slowly began aiming my laser cannon at the oncoming ship, waiting for them to come within range. They passed us on the starboards side and I could clearly see the captain standing on the bridge. He was a tall, muscular Canid man and looked vaguely like a wolf. His fur was rusty brown and he wore a blue jacket. He saw me as well and gave me a cruel grin, where I could see three golden teeth. My eyes widened in shock and fear struck me like lightning as I immediately recognized the man.

"No," I whispered.

* * *

Gale held the wheel tightly in his grasp as Jim and the new helmsman, Mr. Philps, stood back and out of his way. He'd already fired off his gun once and they didn't want to test him. Gale watched the other ship pass by, keeping a sharp eye on it.

"Why hasn't she fired yet?" he hissed. Then, he saw the captain of the other ship. The face was one he would never forget. Shock and anger coursed through Gale's veins. He and his sister both knew the man and said his name in unison.

"Pathos." The pirate ship passed by without incident, leaving the two siblings to wonder what that man was doing, still alive.

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**Yes, this is a man they both know... and have thought to be dead. I'm having so much fun writing this and I hope you're enjoying reading it. Please R&R.**


	7. Chapter 7

**-grins- I made my three-page average this time. I always feel like I've accomplished something when I get three pages of writing in because that shows that I've at least got ideas flowing properly. This one isn't quite as exciting as the last chapter, but it gives a little more information. And the brother-sister yelling thing in the beginning was pretty fun to write. lol**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. Swiftwings13 gave me the most basic idea for this story. Gale Hollow belongs to my good friend, Solaris Prime.**

* * *

My heart and mind were racing as my boots pounded on the floorboards of the deck. I couldn't focus on one thing for long. Between seeing Pathos, Gale's gunshot and my desire to make sure Jim was safe, I was a nervous wreck. Pathos' face kept flashing into my mind and I could clearly see that cruel, wicked grin. It seemed as if this sighting was only a warning, like he was giving a friendly greeting but with a subtle threat attached. That scared me more than seeing a dead man walking. I skipped the stairs up to the helm and glanced around, running to Jim first.

"You're okay, right?!" I asked frantically, my hands shaking as I looked him over.

"I'm fine, Ember," he answered calmly.

"Thank heave. I don't know how this could've happened. I mean-" I was struck by one more thought and whirled around to face Gale. "_You!!!_ What in the Etherium were you _thinking?!_"

"I had to avoid them!" my brother defended.

"So you shot at my husband and helmsman?! Are you crazy?!"

"They wouldn't let me get us out of the way! He was going to ram us if we didn't move! He would have gone straight through the ship and killed us all! I didn't even shoot at _them_!"

"I don't care that you didn't shoot directly at them! What if something happened and you hit one of them?!"

"I wasn't going to! You're over-"

"Shut up! Don't tell me I'm overreacting, okay! You didn't see what I saw!" The rage in Gale's blood-red eyes matched my own. I knew one of us was bound to snap and when we did, it wouldn't be pretty. Our fists were clenched tightly and I wanted to punch him, more so than I had ever wanted before in my life.

"And what _did_ you see?!" Gale demanded.

"A man that I saw die nine years ago! I ordered his death." Gale looked somewhat surprised, like he hadn't expected me to do such a thing, especially since I said I ordered someone to die when I was at the tender age of ten.

"Ember," Jim said softly from behind me and I turned back around to face him. "Who was he?"

"His name is Pathos and I killed him indirectly when I was ten years old."

"That's not possible," Gale said sternly and I glanced back at him."

"And why not?"

"Because I killed him ten years ago, by my own hand." I took a step back in shock and covered my mouth. Had I heard him correctly? How could it have been possible, though? How could Pathos have died _twice_?

"W-What did you say?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

"I killed Pathos ten years ago, when I was nine years old."

"But how is that possible?"

"He couldn't have come back to life, least of all twice," Jim said, trying to make sense of the situation. "Are you sure it's the same guy and that he was really dead?"

"I watched Mr. Scroop behead him with his claws, in cold blood. I could never forget his face. He was standing on the bridge of that ship and gave me the same twisted grin he had when I watched him die," I answered. Jim started to say more, but I held up a hand to stop him, seeing Romulus and Remus coming up to the quarterdeck.

"Cap'n, they don't appear to be following us, "Romulus informed me.

"Good." I walked just past the helm, so the ship's crew would hear me better. "Resume your posts, men!" Romulus and Remus saluted me and left the quarterdeck.

"We should continue this conversation privately," Gale said, glancing pointedly at the helmsman. I nodded and turned to the man.

"Mr. Philps, you will _not_ speak to anyone of this conversation. Do I make myself clear?" I growled.

"Aye, Cap'n," he answered nervously. Jim, Gale and I entered my private quarters and Morph flew into my face, chattering in a terrified way. He transformed into a perfect miniature of Pathos and Gale slapped his hand down on the shape-shifter. I glared at my brother and took Morph in my hands.

"I know, Morphy. I know," I whispered gently.

"What are we going to do about this?" Jim asked, sitting on the couch with his head in his hand. Gale leaned against the wall and I sat at my desk with Morph in my hands.

"I don't know. I never thought I'd have to see him after that day."

"He's here now," Gale said. "And if he gets in our way, I'll kill him a third time." I threw a confused glance his way. What made him think Pathos would stand in our way of finding our father? Was there something more that I didn't understand? Shaking the thought away, I stared down at my desk. This was all too much to take in.

"I agree," I mumbled. "Gale, I need to ask you this. How did you kill Pathos ten years ago? Are you sure he died that day?"

"I don't remember how many times I shot him; at least ten. Two went through his head and three through his chest. I made sure he was dead."

"How old did you say you were?!" Jim asked in shock.

"Nine years. I'm a pirate, remember? I don't see why that's so surprising."

"Was your mother like us? A pirate?" I asked gently.

"No. And don't ask about her again." The slight growl in my brother's tone was more than enough to let me know he'd snap if I pried any further. I put my hands up in the universal peace-keeping gesture.

"Right. Taboo subject. Won't bring it up again. We're just going to focus on finding Dad."

"Then we should start by following Pathos," Gale answered.

"You really _are_ crazy!" Jim yelled. "Didn't you just say he was going to ram us and now you want to follow him?!"

"No, Jim. He's right. If Pathos is back, then it's a safe bet that he has something to do with this," I said and turned to Gale. He had saved my crew, my husband and me, and, though I didn't agree with his methods for doing so, I was grateful. He could have easily taken a longboat and left us to die. "I trust you." My brother gave me a surprised look and then smirked.

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**Another chapter done. I'm glad I was able to put this up, what with all the stuff I'm going to be busy with over the weekend. Hope you guys liked it. Please R&R.**

**Oh, and Sol, I hope it's okay if I added a bit of minor detail information to Gale's past, but I wanted to make sure he had a connection to Pathos (more than what I have in store for later. If you want to know that one , just PM me) and that he thought Pathos to be dead.**


	8. Chapter 8

**NOTICE: This is another chapter that starts off in third-person POV and then switches back over to Ember's. I just wanted to clear that up right now to avoid any possible confusion. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. Swiftwings13 gave me the most basic idea of this story. Gale Hollow belongs to Sol.**

* * *

Pathos walked down to the brig of his ship, a crooked smirk curling his canine lips. He was pleased with the results of his little 'attack.' Of course, he'd planned to slice right through Ember and Gale's ship without caution. He would need to kill them in order to gain their powers anyway. He knew he would miss, though, and that Gale would be the reason why.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Pathos murmured to himself as he picked up a lamp to carry down to the brig with him. He stopped in front of the old metal door of his most despised captive. "John Silver." The old pirate captain glanced up from the back of his cell. He was weak, injured and dirty. Silver looked like death was knocking on his door.

"Come to yap again?" he asked obstinately. Even in his weakened state, he was still John Silver.

"I just saw your children and it seems as though they remember me. Your daughter seemed particularly disturbed by my presence."

"Where are they?!"

"Unfortunately, not here yet. But if I know your son, they'll be soon. After all, he has that power of knowledge." Silver began struggling, pulling his arms away from the wall. His laser-tether stopped him before he could move far.

"Ya took Siren and Talia from me. Ya won't take Em and Wind!"

"You can hardly blame me for a tightrope accident and pregnancy complications, John. And those children _will_ be mine." Silver growled as Pathos walked away, chuckling to himself. "After all, my collection of Elemental Children is nearly complete."

* * *

I stared out across the deck, leaning on the railing of the bridge. Nothing could bring me at ease at the moment. Seeing Pathos alive and seemingly well was enough to shatter the already shaky foundation my life was built upon. Honestly, I was amazed I hadn't completely broken down yet. I still had trouble getting past the idea that Pathos had already died twice. How did he do it?

"Ember," Jim said from behind me, causing me to jump in surprise. "What's going on inside your head?"

"I'll let you know when I stop getting lost in it all," I answered with a chuckle. Jim saw straight through my defense and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.

"It's going to be okay. You'll see. We'll find Silver and get him back." His voice was soft, just barely breathed into my ear.

"And what about Pathos?"

"Then we'll do what Gale said and kill him a third time."

I chuckled softly and closed my eyes, allowing even the smallest comfort put me at ease. After a few minutes of standing wrapped in Jim's arms, I gave him a kiss and walked down onto the deck. It was smooth sailing once again, now that Pathos had passed. Of course, I knew it would only get worse when we finally confronted him. For the time being, though, I was content. I climbed into the rigging, resting on the lower-main yard, my legs dangling on either side of it. I leaned back to rest against the mast and closed my eyes. I probably would have fallen asleep if it wasn't for the feeling that I wasn't alone up there. I started to sit up, glancing around me.

"It's just me," Gale said in a bored tone and I turned to see him on the other side of the mast. I leaned back again and had the feeling he was contemplating something. What that could have been was beyond me, though.

"What are you doing up here, Gale?" I asked, closing my eyes again.

"Clearing my head. You?"

"Same." I was surprised. This was our first conversation that hadn't involved bickering, yelling or compromising in the first few sentences. It was pretty silent after that, though, and I could feel myself drifting off.

"Why did you do it?" Gale finally asked and I jumped slightly, waking up again.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Choose to trust me."

I looked down at my lap and thought over his question. I could understand why he'd be wondering such a thing. After all, we'd been arguing earlier that day. But I knew the answer 'because I do' wouldn't suffice. Gale liked to have tangible answers as well as intangible ones.

"It's more than just one thing, really. For one thing, you're just as dedicated to finding Dad as I am. That shows me that you're not going to give up when things get tough. And then today, when Pathos came, you could have easily abandoned us to save your own life. But you didn't. You steered us out of harms way. The third reason is a little more difficult to explain, but there's just something about you. I don't know what it is, but I feel as though most of what you do is with the best of intentions. I don't' know. I've always been good at reading people and that's just what I get form you. You're a good guy, Gale," I said, finally finding the words to answer him.

"Even though I shot at your husband?"

"I never said I agreed with your methods." Both of us started laughing and I felt as though I'd finally made a break-through.

"Thanks, Em," Gale said and swung down to the deck. As I watched him walk off, I couldn't help but wonder if I had been able to get him to trust me like I did him.

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**And another chapter done. Thank you, Sol, for helping me out towards the end there.**** Please R&R.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yes, I have finally gotten around to updating this. I hadn't been able to before because I was busy with a lot of school stuff, but I managed to write this last night, type it today and _viola_, here it is. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. Swiftwings13 gave me the most basic form of the idea for this (which has elaborated so much from that point on my own). And Gale Hollow belongs to my good friend, Sol.**

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since then. Gale was much more willing to cooperate with the crew, myself and Jim included. It seemed as though he really enjoyed being on a ship, more than anything else I'd seen him do. Jim had noticed the difference in my brother's attitude as well. Of course, Gale still had a short temper, but he kept it under control for the most part. Pulling myself out of my musings, I glanced up from my desk in time to see Gale punch the wall of my stateroom. Now was not one of those 'under control' moments.

"We need to act now!" my brother yelled.

"We know nothing about the guy we're following," Jim pointed out, exasperated. The two of them had been arguing like this for a while, which is why I had tuned them out.

"I know enough about him and I'm sure Ember does too! We know him! We've killed him!"

"And he's back. You obviously didn't plan on that."

"Last I checked, people only die once!"

"Apparently he doesn't. What species is he?"

"Lupine-Canid," I answered, causing the two men in the room to turn abruptly towards me. I hadn't spoken at all until that point. "He _should_ die only once. I don't know how he's breaking that rule, though."

"What are we going to do about him?" Jim asked.

"Just as Gale said. We're going to take action."

"What?!"

"I told you, it's the only way," Gale said with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"'I told you so' has a twin brother, Gale. His name is 'Shut the hell up'!"

"Jim, calm down," I said softly. We're not attacking anyone. Gale and I are going to sneak onto his ship and look around. We won't be starting any fights."

"Why not?! He deserves it!" Gale yelled. At the same time, Jim demanded, "Are you crazy?!"

"Gale and I know Pathos. We're best suited for this recon mission. Gale, we're not attacking first because we need to find out if he knows anything about our father. Then, we can call for backup and tear his ship apart."

"I can live with that," my brother answered.

"Ember, I can't let you do this," Jim protested.

"You need to stay here and run this ship. We'll be fine, I promise," I answered, my expression soft.

"I won't let anything happen to her. She's my blood," Gale insisted. (1)

"We're going tonight, whether you like it or not, Jim. All I can ask is that you please take care of my crew."

"Right. Nightfall's in a few hours. You two should start preparing," Jim answered.

"Thank you," I whispered and stood.

"And Ember." I turned around to face him. "Please, be careful." I threw my arms around my husband's neck and kissed him deeply.

"You know I will."

* * *

In the shroud of the night, Gale and I loaded into one of the longboats. We each had two guns, though I prayed we wouldn't need them. After lowering the longboats from the hull of the ship, Gale started up the engine and directed us towards Pathos' ship, the Aurum. The boat moved swiftly and silently, thanks to Gale's handling on the steering. Once we came up to the side of the Aurum, Gale and I checked for any members of the crew before hopping on-board.

"We'll check the brig first," I whispered and motioned towards the stairs leading into the belly of the ship.

Gale nodded and we began walking in the shadows, slowly making our way over to the entrance of the stairwell. Going down into the brig, I couldn't help but notice every sound around me. Everything was pitch black and I could barely see a thing. Around a corner, we could see a dim red light, though. Gale pressed a finger to his lips and we crept along the wall. After glancing around the corner, he walked out from behind it and down towards one of the cells. I followed after him, my hand resting on one of the guns at my belt. Gale stopped in front of the cell at the end of the hall and clenched his fists. We'd hit a dead-end. I walked up beside him and glanced inside the cell. What I saw made me realized why he was so angry.

"Those monsters," Gale hissed beside me, rage coming off of him in waves.

Inside the cell was the strongest man I'd ever known. He looked frail and sickly. He seemed emaciated compared to how I was used to seeing him. Had he been fed at all? How long had be been here? I could see the laser-tether cuffs around his wrists, both the metal and the organic one. His mechanical arm hung useless, like it had somehow been disabled. My father's eyes were closed and for a brief moment, I feared he had died, until I saw the slow rise and fall of his stomach. I covered my mouth with my hand, holding back tears. It killed me to see him so broken.

"Dad," I whispered, my voice breaking. He slowly opened his eyes and I realized he must have been in a half-sleeping daze; he'd always been a heavy sleeper. Dad's eyes widened in shock when he realized who was standing before him.

"Wind? Em?" His voice was hushed. "What're ya doin' here? Run." I shook my head, tears falling from my eyes. I was angry and sad all at the same time. Beside me, Gale was trembling with rage. I knew we had to get our father out of there, and now.

"It seems my collection is finally complete," a slightly ragged, baritone voice said from behind me. Gale and I whirled around to see Pathos standing there, a smug grin on his lips.

"Pathos," Gale spat and pulled his guns on the Canid before us in under a second.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Gale. Someone might get hurt." I glanced around to see guns pointed at us from every cell, but for the one our father was in. It was a trap, and we walked right into it. Gale pushed me behind himself, still pointing his guns at Pathos.

"Don't do anything stupid," I whispered in his ear.

He nodded ever-so slightly, but didn't move otherwise. I didn't know how we were going to get out of this. We were vastly outnumbered, on an enemy's ship. I heard three shots fire and jumped in surprise. The next thing I knew, Gale hit the floor with a sickening _thud_. My hair was flying from the static given off by an Electric Pulse gun, and I knew he'd only been knocked unconscious. I whipped out one of my guns and pulled the trigger. I was hit by two EP shots before my finger even fully retracted. My body fell and everything went black.

* * *

**(1) I understand that what Gale said can be taken hundreds of different ways. Some may think he's saying that she's as valueable to him as his own blood. Things like that. To avoid any confusion, I'm just going to tell you, he means 'she's my blood' in the sense that they're family, siblings. They share half of the same blood.**

**Now that I've cleared that up, that's the end of this chapter. Hope you liked it. I borrowed the EP gun from Solaris Prime's story "The Price One Pays" or TPOP, as we abbreviate it. Now, in his story, Gale get's temporarily paralyzed by two shots. So, I figure another one in a row might actually knock him out. So, that's my thought process behind that one. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I'll have another one up soon. Please R&R.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Two chapters in one day. I'm good. lol. Anyway, this chapter is going to be giving some information that you, Ember and Gale have been wanting to know for a while now, like what Pathos wants with them and what this "Collection" is. :D Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. The most basic form of this story comes from Swiftwings13. Gale Hollow belongs to Sol.**

* * *

As I slowly regained consciousness, I felt as though my tongue was made of cotton. I was groggy and sore, feeling as though I'd just awoken after some kind of beating. I slowly opened my eyes, groaning. Suddenly, all the events before being knocked unconscious came back to me and I sat straight up. Bad idea. My body ached and protested every movement I made. Forcing back my awareness to the dull aches, I glanced around the room I was in. It was dark, with only a dim red light coming through the small, barred opening on the door. It looked much like the cell I'd seen my dad in before I was shocked into unconsciousness. That brought my mind into full-alert as I prayed I wasn't alone.

"Gale?" I called, my mouth dry and my voice thick. "Gale?"

There was no response. I could feel my breathing quicken as fear began to set in. Was I completely alone in here? Where was Gale? Had Pathos already killed him? Tears stung my eyes as these questions raced through my head. A quiet, deep groan drew my attention to the figure on the other side of the dark room. I could barely see him, but I was able to recognize my brother from the color of his hair.

"What hit me?" he asked and then growled. I was sure he'd remembered what had happened and didn't need me to remind him. Even across a room in which I couldn't see him, I could feel the anger emanating from him.

"Are you alright, Gale?" I asked.

"I should have seen it coming!"

"Yes, you should have," Pathos' voice answered. I turned my head toward the door to see him in that small, barred opening. "After all, Gale, you have the gift of Foresight. You were always able to predict my intentions before. Don't tell me you've gotten rusty."

I glared harshly at the man and he only chuckled. Gale growled and ran towards the door, probably planning on punching Pathos. Unfortunately, before he could cross more than half the room, his laser-tether lit up and stopped him from moving. I looked down at my wrists and could see similar cuffs on them. We were trapped.

"What do you want with us?!" I demanded.

"Only what I've wanted all along but your parents were resistant to." Pathos began walking away but as he did, I heard him say, "Disposing of your mothers was a simple matter." I glanced at Gale and could see it in his face in the dim light. What I'd heard wasn't imagined.

"I'll kill you!" Gale roared, trying to pull on the laser-tether hard enough to extend or break it.

Of course, those things were almost impossible to break in such a way. I'd known Gale's mother was a topic never to be brought up, but I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. Realizing he couldn't pull his way out of the cell, Gale turned around and punched the wall once. I wouldn't have been surprised if his knuckles were raw after that one. Gale pressed his back against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor, his hands buried into his thick silver hair.

"Gale," I whispered cautiously and his head snapped up to stare at me. The red in his eyes appeared almost non-existent in the matching dim light. It was a scary sight to behold.

"How could I not see this coming?" he asked himself.

"You couldn't have. There would have been no way of knowing."

"But I've always known!" There was silence between us, but I could hear hushed whispers coming from other cells around us.

"Who's there?!" I demanded and the whispers abruptly stopped.

"My name's Ari," a male voice answered. "I'm a Child of Wind." I blinked a few times in confusion. A what?

"What in blue blazes is that?!" Gale asked, obviously as confused as I was.

"You don't know?" No one's ever told you what you two are?" This time, it was a female's voice. She sounded as though she'd lost all hope.

"That was Ebony. She's a Child of Fire," Ari said. "It _is_ strange that neither of you know what you are."

"Are you going to keep speaking in riddles or are you going to give us a straight answer?" Gale demanded.

"You are Children of Water. You're the last ones Pathos needed for his collection."

"Collection?"

"He's gathered every type of Elemental Child: Wind, Earth, Fire and Water. You two were the ones he needed to finish his collection."

"Why does he want us?" I asked.

"You really _are_ clueless, aren't you? He wants all of us for our gifts."

"What gifts?"

"Whichever one of you has the gift of Foresight, you can predict the future. That's probably how you were able to escape him for so long," Ari explained.

"Does every one have the same gift?" I asked.

"Of course not. They vary through the elements and among people. It's so unlikely that you two would have the same gift that I would expect to be struck by lightning first."

"Careful what you wish for, Ari," another masculine voice called. His voice was rougher than Ari's as well as deeper.

"Shut up, Griffin. We know you've got Absorption."

"Absorption?" I asked, lost once again.

"He can absorb electricity and use it. He's the other Child of Fire here."

"Do any of you have anything that'll get us out of here?" Gale asked.

"If we did, do you think we'd still be here?" I heard Gale growl in annoyance.

"No arguing," I ordered.

"Who died and made you queen?" Ebony asked.

"Are any of you the captain of a ship, which is following this one, I might add?" They were silent. "Thought so." Suddenly, the belt around my waist started moving, tickling me. I started laughing as it turned into a gelatinous pink blob, floating in front of my face.

"Morph!" Gale exclaimed.

"I just found a way out of here. Morphy, I want you to go back to the Argent. Tell Jim what happened. It is imperative you tell him everything. I don't know how long we'll be traveling."

"Until we get to Ementia," Ari answered. "That's where he plans to sacrifice us for our powers. We're safe until then, relatively. If you want anyone to attack, it'll be when we get to the planet."

"You got that, Morph?" I asked. He saluted me. "Good. Now go tell Jim." Morph zipped out of the cell and I could only hope things would turn out well.

* * *

**So many things to talk about down here, huh? So, I'll start with the whole Electricity-Fire relationship. See, electricity and fire DO have a link, though not many people understand that, and it also depends greatly on what type of thing you're going with when you look up the elements. There are so many different ways things can go that you really can't just go by one. I'm sort of combining some stuff that has been seen as possiblities with my own ideas. But yes, a Child of Fire will have the ability to control electricty, though I can't really explain how.**

**This will be seen again later (probably through some talking next chapter) that the female Child of Wind will have the ability to heal. I know this is typically seen as a Water-attribute thing. However, I went and looked up all these things and they said healing goes to Wind. It's all kinda strange. I'm no expert, so I'm just going to go with what I find. I suppose healing could be a Water and a Wind thing, depending on how you look at it. Either way, there's going to be a healer and she's not going to be a Child of Water.**

**Now, onto some comments from me. Yes, Pathos has something to do with the deaths of both Gale's and Ember's mothers. What is it? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Or, if you're really perceptive, you know the answer already. :D I am having so much fun writing this story.**

**And, just because I want to, I'm going to give you the names of all the people in the cells and which element they are a child of. I won't be telling you their gifts, though.**

**Children of Wind:  
Nyssa  
Ari**

**Children of Earth:  
Willow  
Tobias**

**Children of Fire:  
Griffin  
Ebony**

**Children of Water  
Gale  
Ember**

**Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying the story. Please R&R.**


	11. Chapter 11

**You people have no idea how much I love my co-author. You might get an inkling towards the end of this chapter, but you'd really have to be there to really understand. Anway, please enjoy the latest installment of this story.**

**Disclaimer: Treasure Planet does not belong to me. The most basic form of this idea comes from Swiftwings13. Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime. (PS: I suggest you people read his stories. They're awesome!)**

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The time dragged on in that cell, making Gale and me antsier by the day. We came to know who each of the other Elemental Children around us were. We also discovered that we were in a part of the brig that was separated from any other prisoners. That meant my dad was on the other side of the ship. The image of him as I'd last seen him was burned into my brain. He looked so beaten, like he would fall apart if I touched him. It broke my spirit to see him like that and I often found it hard to keep my hopes up fro escaping that place. I felt a hand on my cheek and turned to look at Gale as he wiped a tear from my face. That was when I realized I'd been crying. I wiped my eyes, shaking my head. The last thing I needed was to break down now.

"I'm fine," I mumbled.

"Ember, do you really think the one you sent Morph to get will be able to get us out of here?" Nyssa asked. She was the other Child of Wind and Ari's younger cousin, being sixteen years old. She was probably the most hopeful of the group.

"I know Jim will get us all out of here, my father included. Then, we're going to get rid of Pathos once and for all." I wasn't about to go into detail about how I wanted to kill Pathos in the most inhumane way possible. Nyssa was a kind-hearted girl with the gift of Healing. I couldn't bring myself to tell her such gruesome things.

"We're almost there," Willow mumbled. "He said we should be arriving on Ementia by tomorrow."

She was eighteen years old and very shy. That was one of the few times I'd heard her speak. Her gift was of Hearing, allowing her to have extrasensory hearing. She knew every conversation being spoken on the ship and could even hear what was happening back on the Argent. She had told me Jim's reaction when Morph explained what happened. Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

"Tomorrow?" Gale asked. "So soon?"

"You've been here for about a week," Ari answered.

"They're coming," Willow said and we all stopped talking.

It wasn't long before the footsteps could be heard by the rest of us. Gale didn't budge as the door was opened just enough for two trays of food to be slid across to us. The first couple of days, he'd tried to attack whoever came. He'd been stopped by the laser-tether around his wrists and quickly gave up on that option. He was on to working on a different way of getting out of the cell. He didn't like the idea of waiting to be rescued, something I could sympathize with him.

"What? Nothing to spice up the gruel?" Griffon asked with what I could only guess was a smirk. Every day he made a comment like that and every day, the man who brought our meals would growl at him. Today was different and I could hear the low hum of some kind of gun. I assumed it was an EP, seeing as Pathos wanted us alive.

"Don't," another man ordered. "He'll only use it against you."

I cursed under my breath, causing Gale to glance at me in surprise. He wasn't used to me using foul language as I just had. The two men finished their job and left the brig, leaving only silence behind them.

"So, we have a day," I muttered as I picked at the strange, bland mush on the tray I held. Gale did the same, his lip curled in disgust as he stared at the 'food'.

"Give or take," Ari answered from his cell.

"Let's hope your little plan with the other ship works out," Ebony said in a bored tone.

"Jim is working hard to prepare your crew," Willow whispered and I nodded, though she wouldn't see it.

As we all ate in silence, I couldn't help but wonder what my ability was. Willow had Hearing, Griffon had Absorption, Nyssa had Healing and Gale had Clairvoyance. I didn't know about Ari, Ebony, Tobias, who was the other Child of Earth, or myself. Did I have anything useful, that might help us escape?

"Ari, what are some other gifts Elemental Children can have?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Tobias has Strength, which makes him a lot stronger than most beings. Ebony's got Pyrokinesis, which allows her to manipulate fire, but not create it. I have the gift of Reading, so I know what every Elemental Child I meet is gifted with," he answered.

"So, what do I have?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask that. You have the gift of Empathy. You can read other people's emotions. It makes you really good at finding out what makes people tick."

"I thought that was natural!" I exclaimed. I'd never realized my accuracy in reading people was some kind of gift.

"Nope."

"So… how does one become an Elemental Child?"

"It's based off a parent's name. My dad's name was Blaise, which is related to fire. That's why I'm a Child of Fire," Ebony answered.

"But my mother's name was Talia," I mumbled.

"That means Heaven's dew," Willow answered. "It's a water name."

"What about you, Gale?" My brother glanced at me and scowled. I backed away slightly from his glare. I didn't think he'd ever open up about what had happened to his mother, or any information on her for that matter.

"Siren Hollow," he said simply. I blinked a few times in surprise. Then I realized that sirens were mythical creatures, sometimes said to be part mermaid. The were often seen as water-creatures.

"Wait a minute," I said. "How do we gain these 'powers' if this is all based on a parent's name, not blood?"

"Beats the shit outta me," Griffon muttered. I then heard the sound of a metal can knocking against something hard. "Ow! What the hell, Ari?!"

"They made a good choice putting you in the cell across from mine. Don't speak like that to a woman," Ari answered.

"Fuck you!" Another _clunk_. "Ow! Where are you getting these projectiles?!"

"I have a pile over here. I've been saving them up because I just _knew_ they'd be useful somehow."

"I thought Gale was supposed to be the one with Clairvoyance!"

"I grew up with pirates. Language doesn't bother me," I said, hoping to stop their argument.

"Geez, Ari, why couldn't you have Phasing?! That would've been a _lot_ more useful!"

"I didn't exactly get a choice," Ari answered, though his voice was strained. I figured hew as trying not to yell at the sophomoric young man that was Griffon.

"Both of you shut up!" Gale yelled. "Now's not the time for arguing. We need to plan out what we're going to do when this ship lands on Ementia tomorrow." I glanced at my brother and smiled, glade he wanted to put an end to the fighting among allies. We'd already had enough of that in the beginning of our voyage.

"Gale's right," Tobias answered, speaking for the first time since he'd first introduced himself a week ago. His voice was a smooth baritone, deeper than Ari's but not as rough as Griffon's. "The only way we can hope to live is if we come up with a way to help Ember's husband from our end." I smiled in the darkness and turned towards my brother.

"Any ideas?" I asked him.

"Actually, I've been working with a few," Gale answered with a smirk.

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**First off, I want to talk about the whole siren-in-mythology thing. In Ancient Greek mythology... a lot of things get mixed around. There are two different main ideas around the sirens. Both of them have to do with luring sailors into the rocky cliffs on which they live. The reasons why vary. Anyway, the two main ideas are that the sirens were either part bird, like Harpies (I'm not going into those), or they were part mermaid. Both ideas are equally accepted, so I decided to go with a water-being because it fit in better with my story. :D**

**Next, I want to talk about that little argument between Ari and Griffon... That's why I love my co-author. We were talking about the story today in lunch and we came up with that off the top of our heads and I just _had_ to use it. It was so funny to us when we were coming up with it, imagining Ari just tossing an old coffee mug across his cell, across the hall, into Griffon's cell and knocking Griffon in the head. I was laughing so hard, my side was KILLING me and I couldn't breathe for almost five minutes. Took forever to stop laughing. lol. Anyway, that's why I love Ashley. She's amazing.**

**Hmmm... I think that's really all I need to address here. Oh, but I just want to let you guys know what Phasing is, because I don't know if I'll mention it later in the story. Phasing allows the person to 'phase' through walls, doors, etc. In other words... if Ari had that, he wouldn't be there.**

**Alright, now that's everything. Please R&R. And before I go, I want to recommend and awesome song, mainly because I'm listening to it right now. It's called "Domani 21 aprile 2009". I can't tell you the artist because it's about 50 Italian artists. It's a great song, just the sound of it. I'm not entirely sure on the lyrics because we've only just started translating it in my Italian class. It's a great song that was recorded to raise money for the people who went through that earthquake in Abruzzo.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Wow! Chapter twelve! To be perfectly honest, I didn't know if I'd make it this far in this story. I ususally end up running out of ideas by the third or fourth chapter... or seventh (-cough- Beautiful Disaster -cough-) Anyway, I'm all excited to have so much done and I want to thank everyone who's supporting this story, as well as a special thank you to Swiftwings13 and Solaris Prime. This story would not have been possible without the two of you guys.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. Swiftwings 13 gave me the most basic idea for this story. Gale Hollow belongs to my dear friend, Solaris Prime.**

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Waking up in a dark, red-tinted room was never a pleasant experience. It reminded me of how people described hell. Couple that with the silence as everyone else slept, and it was enough to make me tremble in fear, on the verge of a panic attack. I had never been used to that kind of silence, even growing up. On my father's ship, there was always the sound of the crew working or even my father's snores if I woke before him. Living with Jim, I could hear him and feel him nearby when I woke up in the morning. I never felt alone. Now, as a prisoner on Pathos' ship, I felt more isolated than I'd even been in my life. It didn't matter that my brother was just across the room from me, or that six other people were within speaking distance from my cell. All was utterly silent and my fear of being alone attacked me, making my heart clench.

It was Pathos who had done this to me, making me fear isolation as much as I did. I was only a small child, barely five years old, and our ship had landed on a planet of which I forget the name. My father had told me to stay on the ship, with Mr. Scroop and the rest of the crew. Of course, being as stubborn as I had always been, I disobeyed and snuck off the ship. Trying to follow my dad, I got lost in a crowd. I ran out as fast as I could, losing myself in a back alleyway. I was alone, scared and vulnerable. That's when Pathos first appeared in my life. He came out of the shadows, a twisted grin on his face, He said something about the first in his 'collection' and reached out for me. I feared for my life in the presence of the lupine, knowing from the feelings I got from him that he intended to harm me. I ran away from him as fast as I could, my heart pounding in my chest, and screamed for help. That was when my dad found me, crying and screaming. He searched around for the cause of my fear, but couldn't find Pathos. From that moment on, I feared the feeling of being completely isolated.

"Ember," Gale said, causing me to jump in surprise.

"Yeah," I said, though my voice wavered slightly. This didn't go unnoticed by my brother and his brow furrowed.

"What's with you?"

"It's nothing to worry about."

Gale cast me an unconvinced glanced, but didn't press the matter any further. It was quiet between us, with only a few shared words between us. I didn't feel alone as long as someone was conscious along with me, though. A couple hours later, everyone was awake and we were talking among ourselves. Of course, Tobias and Willow were quiet as usual, but I understood that was how they were.

"Oh no," Willow suddenly whispered, gaining all of our attention in an instant.

"What's wrong, Willow?" Ari asked. I could hear the concern in his voice.

"It's from Ember's ship." My heart clenched and I stopped breathing for a moment. No one moved.

"W-What happened?" I asked shakily.

"Someone is attacking ahead of schedule. He's disobeying Jim's orders."

"Who?!" I was enraged. Who in my crew would_ dare_ disobey Jim when I put him in charge of them?

"I believe his name is… Meltdown. He thinks this is taking too long. H-He's at the laser cannon right now!"

"What?! Are you serious?!" I heard Willow whimper in pain and Tobias moved in the cell.

"I think he just fired," he said.

"We have a few seconds at best! Everyone, get down and hold onto something sturdy!" Gale ordered.

The seconds ticked by slowly. Then, the laser ball hit, rocking the ship like and earthquake. The ominous red light flickered out, leaving us in complete darkness. From the movement of the ship's floorboards beneath me, I could tell we were on a crash-landing to the planet Ementia. As the ship plummeted, I could only hope my dad was still alright.

"Meltdown is dead when I get my hands on him!" I yelled over the noise as the ship fell.

Hitting the planet rattled me more than anything I'd ever experienced before in my life. I was thrown across the room, landing on Gale and sending us into the door of our cell. I heard crashes and screams from the cells around me. All of the 'projectiles' Ari had saved in his and Nyssa's cell clattered around, banging into everything as far as I could tell. Gale grunted in pain behind me as we were flung to another part of the room. With one final jolt, the ship stopped moving and we were all thrown around once more.

"How's everyone?" Ari asked, doing a status check.

"Fine," I answered, rubbing my sore back.

"Headache, but otherwise good," Gale said.

"I'm okay," Willow answered quietly.

"Same," Tobias agreed.

"I'll live," Ebony called.

"My leg hurts like a bitch, but I'll walk it off," Griffon answered.

"And Nyssa and I are okay," Ari finished. "We're all accounted for.

'_Not all,'_ I thought, my mind drifting to my dad.

I slowly stood up, gripping the bars to the door to help support myself. At that moment, I realized something. There wasn't a faint glow in the cell, nothing pulling me back to the other side of the cell. With the blown power in the ship, the laser-tethers were disabled. I felt my wrists and the metal cuffs were gone, as was the feature in the event of an outage. Then another thought struck me. No power meant no locks on the cell doors. I pulled on the bars of the door and it gave a little.

"Gale, come here. Help me get the door," I ordered. My brother stumbled in the darkness, stopping beside me with his hands on the metal bars.

"On three," he said. "One, two, three." We both pulled as hard as we could and the door creaked open.

"We are out of here!" I exclaimed.

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**Well, there's another chapter. Yep, they've escaped! All because Meltdown goofed up! Gotta love flukes like that. :D**

**Alright... I'm not going to lie to you guys... That first part where I incorporated that part of Ember's past... that's just me waiting for the story to start writing itself. At that exact point, I had no clue where I was going to go, so I made a bit of a 'filler'. It still fit and added more to the understanding of the character... but honestly I was just seeing how long I could go before my pencil started working on its own accord. That whole bit with Meltdown was half-planned, half-spontanious. Ashley and I were toying with the idea of Meltdown firing at the ship and then all that fun stuff that goes along with a crash... the rest just came on its own.**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter. I apologize for Griffon's language, but that's just how the character formed... I didn't 'make' him that way, per se. Anyway, please R&R.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Finally put up chapter thirteen. It took so long because... well, honestly, I was being a bit lazy and I have other stuff for school to work on. It took me three days just to get through describing people because I just didn't have time to. lol. Oh, yeah... Ember finally gets to see who the other Elemental Children are. -thumbs up-**

**Disclaimer: It's the same disclaimer I put in every chapter... just get on to the reading.**

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All of us ran down the pitch black corridors, using the walls as our guide. All I could hear around me were our footsteps as they pounded on the floor. Every once in a while, I could hear someone stumbled and could only assume it was Griffin on his hurt leg. Around a corner, I saw a light and stopped abruptly, pressing my back against the wall. Gale did as well, noticing the abrupt stop in mine and Willow's footsteps. The others nearly crashed into us and I stumbled forward, into the light. I cringed, both in the sudden change and in anticipation of being shot at. No sounds came and I slowly opened my eyes to see that we'd found the hole that the laser ball had put in the ship.

"Come on!" I ordered and ran over to the edge of the hole. The opening was tilted towards the ground, making it easier to get down without hurting ourselves. Gale and I both jumped down and helped the others out. Griffin stumbled on his hurt leg, knocking my brother and me to the ground.

"Are you guys okay," Nyssa asked, concern in her voice.

"We're fine," I answered and looked around at the other Elemental Children. Seeing them for the first time and really being able to take in any details was surprising.

Ari was the tallest and oldest, being twenty years of age. He had messy, thick, dark brown hair. A matching beard was growing along his chin, making his soft features look more rugged. His dark blue eyes contrasted beautifully with his hair, but his skin was pale from being locked away in that cell for so long. Ari wore what looked like a suit one might wear in college, which may explain why he was so well-educated. He had on a navy blue suit, a messy white shirt and a loose, red tie. Oddly, he wore a pair of black and white running shoes and I could only guess that when he was captured, he was walking to a class or presentation.

Nyssa was his younger sixteen-year-old cousin, the youngest of our group. She had long, light brown hair and caramel eyes. She was thin, though unnaturally because of the time she spent locked away. Her facial features were very soft, with high cheek bones, and her skin was as pale as Ari's. Nyssa wore a black pleated skirt that reached her knees along with a matching, long-sleeved shirt. It reminded me very much of a Terran school uniform and I figured she was taken while at school, or on the commute.

Griffin, who had fallen on Gale and me, now leaned against the hull of the ship. He wasn't putting much weight on his right leg. He had messy blond hair that stuck out at all angles and pale blue eyes that I found captivating. He had strong facial features with high cheek bones, giving him a harsher appearance. He was more muscular than Ari and I figured he'd been captured at a later time. Griffin wore a pair of dark blue jeans, brown boots and a white T-shirt, though it looked more like a light gray.

Tobias was the most muscular of the group, as to be expected from his gift, but he wasn't bulky. On his left bicep was a tattoo of a green flame, something I'd known to symbolize the circle of life and death. He had blond hair, a little darker than Griffin's, with forest green eyes. He was the tannest of the group, though with just barely more color than Gale and myself. Tobias was dressed in what looked to be a military uniform, though he was missing the sleeves. Both his pants and shirt were green camouflage and he wore dark brown combat boots.

"Griffin, you're holding us back!" Ebony yelled. The small flames around the hole we'd just exited from doubled in size. The fire grew as I felt Ebony's anger do the same.

"Oh, shut up!" Griffin snapped. The flames above him grew even more.

"Stop it!" I ordered, staring into Ebony's eyes.

They were a light amethyst color and flashed sharply in the firelight. It was almost as if the flames were in her eyes. Her long hair was the orange color of flames and was held up in a high ponytail to keep it out of her face. Her skin was almost as dark as Gale's and she had sharp facial features, making her look very beautiful. Ebony wore a red tank top with a pair of dark jeans and black sneakers.

Of the whole group, that left Willow. She was thin and lithe, with delicate features. Her hair was the green of a tree leaf and her eyes were dark brown. Unlike the rest of us, she wore a long, off-white dress with a ruffled slit up to her thigh, giving the skirt a cape-like appearance. Beneath the dress, she wore a pair of thin, dark brown leggings and over her shoulders was a red shawl. She was also the only one of us wearing jewelry, having two gold bands around her left wrist.

"Now's not the time or place. You can chew him out when we're in a safer location," Gale said, quickly breaking up the argument.

I nodded in agreement and quickly glanced around us, surveying the planet we'd landed on. It was all flat-land as far as I could tell. There may have been some small hills in the distance, but no mountains. With the exception of the forest we were at the mouth of, it was grassy plains as far as the eye could see.

"We should hide out in the forest, make it harder for them to spot us," Ari suggested.

"Agreed. Tobias, can you carry Griffin so he won't slow us down? Give Ebony one less thing to complain about," Gale said, muttering the last sentence. The flames on the ship grew once again.

"Cut it out!" I yelled. "We need to get moving."

Tobias hoisted Griffin onto his back and the eight of us headed deeper into the forest. Ari was at the lead while Gale and I covered the rear of the group. As we walked, I glanced back at the crashed _Aurum_ and my strength faltered for a brief moment. Gale took notice.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Dad," I murmured and turned back to continue walking, hiding my tears from my brother.

* * *

**Is Silver still alive? Or was he killed in the crash? To be perfectly honest... I don't know yet. ;P**

**Like I said, I let the story write itself. I think a story is its own being, its own entity and authors are just around to convey that being... at least, that how it usually works for me. :D**

**Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter. I know not much happened, but more should in the next chapter. Please R&R.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I made my three-page average and nearly made it to four pages with this one... I'm very pleased with myself. So, again, there isn't a whole lot of action going on, but there are some pretty good events taking place and all that fun stuff. And, for those of you who liked Gale's rage, you get to see that again this chapter. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet. The original idea (which is SO far gone at this point) originally comes from Swiftwings13. Gale Hollow belongs to my good friend, Solaris Prime.**

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"Ow! Don't do that!" Griffin yelled, causing Ebony to cover his mouth with her hand. We had finally found a relatively safe place, hidden under the roots of an old, hollow tree. It was the perfect place to hide for the time being. Ari was inspecting Griffin's leg, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. That was what had caused his sudden outburst.

"It looks like you've sprained your ankle," Ari said calmly. Griffin jerked Ebony's hand away from his mouth.

"Thanks, Doc. Now why don't you just have Nyssa heal it so we can be on our merry way?"

"Because it's a good idea to know _what_ she's healing."

"And we're not going anywhere just yet," I answered as Nyssa knelt down to heal Griffin's ankle.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because we don't know anything about this planet. Our best bet would be to try and meet up with Jim. Then, we'll work from there."

"What about our father?" Gale asked and I bit my lower lip. I turned my head and stared at the dirt wall in front of me.

"I don't know yet."

"We can't just leave him there! The reason we teamed up was to save him! Now you're just going to leave him behind?!" The rage emanating off of Gale was overpowering and it brought tears to my eyes.

"I don't want to leave him behind, Gale. Right now, we have six other people to worry about."

"Are six people we've just met more important than our dad?!"

"Of course not, but they're not any less. Life is life."

"The cost for saving them may be our father's life! Are you willing to pay that price?!" Gale demanded.

"I don't know!" I yelled back, finally looking into my brother's red eyes. "I don't know what to do, Gale! Honestly, it scares the hell out of me! It's like balancing on a tightrope: one wrong move and I could lose everything! I don't want to do that!"

"Then get some better balance," Gale muttered angrily before leaving the shelter. I could feel all eyes on me as my brother stormed off. I brushed the tears from my cheeks, but couldn't bring myself to look at the others.

"Where's he going?" Nyssa asked softly.

"He's the one with Clairvoyance, remember? If I had to take a guess, he's either going to storm around the forest and blow off some steam, or try to rescue our dad," I answered, still staring at in the direction my brother had gone.

"Aren't you going to go after him? He's your brother," Griffin asked.

"I'm surprised you care what I'm doing."

"If it was my brother, I'd go after him. What he's doing is suicide."

"I know."

"Don't you care?" Ebony asked.

"Of course I care. He's my brother."

"Ember," Ari said, resting a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head to look at him. "You go get him. We'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"We'll be right here when you and Gale come back." I nodded with a small smile and ran out of the makeshift shelter. I knew I had to stop Gale from going into the _Aurum_ alone. My only hope was that I could catch him in time, if that was what he was planning.

"Gale!" I called. "Gale, where are you?" I was answered only by silence. "Where is he? Gale!"

I frowned as I was met by more silence. Looking around, I found a few low branches and began climbing into the trees. After climbing at least two stories up into that tree, I could see so much more around me. The view was beautiful and I was surrounded by a lush green forest. I could even see the _Aurum_ relatively nearby, but there was no sign of my brother. I growled under my breath and punched the trunk of the tree I was in. I needed to find Gale, and soon. I looked out over the landscape below and I saw something zip by out of the corner of my eye. I glanced around and was greeted by a small, chattering, transparent pink blob. Morph licked my cheek and snuggled up against me.

"Morph!" I exclaimed and held him in my hands. "Where's Jim?"

Morph turned into an arrow and pointed behind me. I turned around to see my husband in a longboat, speeding towards the tree I was in. When he saw me, a smile broke across his face and he stopped the boat beside me. I leapt onto the boat and threw my arms around Jim, kissing him. His arms wrapped tightly around me, like he never wanted to let me go.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking me over.

"I'm fine, but I need to find Gale," I answered.

"What happened? And were you crying?" I swiped at my eyes again to make sure there weren't anymore tears on my face. The skin around my eyes must have been red and puffy.

"We weren't seeing eye to eye."

"Shocker."

"He ran off and I can't find him. He could just be walking around or he's going back to the _Aurum_. I don't know and I'm afraid he's going back alone. It's suicide." Jim let me go and started up the boat, sending it forward.

"We'll find him," he said. Morph nodded in agreement and I forced a small smile. I could only hope we would find my brother before he did anything stupid.

* * *

One wouldn't have needed Ember's gift of empathy to know Gale was angry. It was apparent by the look on his face. He wasn't quite as angry at Ember's actions as he was by her words. He could handle confusion, even understand why she was conflicted. The reference to the tightrope was what had triggered the anger. His mother, a former tightrope walker herself, was his emotional backbone. Ember may not have realized it, but she'd struck a highly sensitive nerve. Gale needed time to clear his head, before he ended up hurting someone he cared about. He had heard his sister calling his name in search, but ignored it. He'd go back when he was ready. He didn't need his _younger_ sister acting as though he needed her protection.

"Gale!" Ember's voice called, grabbing his attention. She sounded much closer than she had only a few minutes before. He turned around and saw Ember and Jim in a longboat as they slowed to a stop before him.

* * *

**Yes, I changed POV for a short time at the end. I felt I hadn't done that recently and I thought I'd give you guys a little insight as to why Gale was so angry... that way you guys don't think he's heartless or anything for wanting to save Silver over the six ECs. Oh, and for those of you who may not have caught it, I used a slight reference to another story. Gale said that thing about "Are you willing to pay that price?" Yeah, that comes from Solaris Prime's story "The Price One Pays" which is the story where Gale comes from (though not with the exact same background as I've given him in this story). Anyway, go check it out if you haven't because it's really good. Then, read "What I Hear", the sequel to that story. Both are awesome.**

**Okay... I've done my advertising. lol. Anyway, please R&R.**


	15. Chapter 15

**-pouts- I didn't make my 3-page average this time... Oh well. I plan to make up for it by making the next chapter have a lot more action. By which, I mean FIGHT SCENE! Yes, we are coming up on the epic battle! Though that may take more than one chapter, depending on how much I want to inform the reader and the characters on the other stuff I came up with about Elemental Children. Anyway, it's going to be good. **

**Disclaimer: I've said this way too many times before. Let's just pretend I wrote it out again so you can just get to the story now.**

* * *

I jumped off the boat and landed in front of Gale, staring up into his eyes. I wasn't sure if I should hug him or punch him. On one hand, I was glad he was still safe and I had found him. On the other hand, I was still angry because he'd stormed off and could have gotten himself killed. I didn't get a chance to act on either thought because that was when Jim stepped in.

"I thought you weren't going to let anything happen to her," Jim said sternly.

"I did just that. There's not a scratch-" Gale stared and then glanced at me. "Okay, there are a few scratches, but you can blame Meltdown for those. I protected her to the best of my ability."

"And you were both captured."

"But in being captured, we met strong allies," I interjected.

"Who?"

"Let's go back to the shelter. We can come up with a plan there and you can meet them."

Jim nodded, though I could tell he was still a bit confused, and the three of us climbed into the longboat. Gale still seemed angry, but not nearly as bad as before. Jim put his arm around me and pulled me close to himself, glad he'd found me safe and mostly unharmed. When we arrived at the large old tree the other Elemental Children were taking refuge under, Gale and I stepped in first with Jim and Morph right behind us. Everyone was still pretty quiet and just sitting around talking amongst themselves.

"Hey, Ember got Gale," Griffin said with a smirk.

"But who's that behind you?" Nyssa asked.

"This is James Hawkins, my husband. Jim, these are our friends, Ari, Nyssa, Griffin, Ebony, Tobias and Willow," I said, pointing to each in turn.

"Good to meet you," Ari said, shaking hands with Jim.

"Now that we're all acquainted, let's work on a plan to get Dad out of there and get rid of Pathos once and for all," Gale interjected.

"Right. Jim, where's the rest of the crew?" I asked.

"Back on the ship. Why?"

"We'll probably need them. At the very least, we'll need Meltdown's talent with the laser cannons. Speaking of which, I'm going to bury him in so much work after this is all over, he won't even know the meaning of the word 'rest.'" Jim chuckled and we continued talking, throwing out various ideas to attack Pathos with. I hated the idea of subjecting Nyssa or Willow to such atrocious behavior, but knew they would be an asset to our success.

"Alright, then. Let's go!" Griffin yelled when the plan was settled on.

There was only one downside to our scheme: it required a decoy. That was me. I hugged Jim tightly before stepping out of our shelter. Running back in the direction our group had come from when we'd escaped the _Aurum_, I tried to keep to the shadows. I then climbed high into one of the trees, up to one of the tallest branches. I needed to make it look like I was searching, or trying to be found by my husband.

"Jim!" I yelled, my voice echoing around me.

I looked around, taking in the scenery. It was much like what I'd seen before, but more. I could see farther out, as well as the canopy of the forest. It wasn't long before I could hear the longboats of Pathos' crew. One shot was fired and I found myself unable to move as the EP shot paralyzed me. Unable to keep my balance, I fell off the branch I was in and towards the ground far below. I high-pitched scream escaped my lips as I fell and I knew Willow had heard it loud and clear. The rest of them were probably going to come _save_ me anytime now. They'd all be captured and I'd be powerless to stop it. I landed in a small boat, grunting in pain as my back hit a wooden board, but was unable to do anything. Pathos came into my field of view, that cruel grin on his face.

"You're lucky I need you, or I'd kill you and your brother now," he growled.

"You won't find him. You can't kill him," I answered sharply.

"On the contrary, girl."

The intensity in his eyes and the feeling I got from him filled me with fear. The boat sped through the forest and I found myself completely helpless as I watched the trees go by. Soon, the only thing I could see was the clear, blue sky and could only hope my family and new friends would be okay.

* * *

**Yeah... she was captured. But it all works out... at least, it works out in my head so far. lol.**

**Oh, and me, Ashley and our friend (volleyballwb9) came up with an AWESOME way to have immediately after the epic battle. I can't tell you what it is yet, but trust me, it'll be good. Like, really, really good. I'm all excited to write it, but I have to wait until I get to that point... good thing I jotted down notes for it. :D Anyway, please R&R.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I finally got to write this one. I struggled a bit in the beginning, but once I got going, I REALLY got going. Actually, got all worked up as I was writing the ending parts of it. Well, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Ember and the way this plot has evolved... and Pathos, though I really don't want to own him.**

* * *

I was thrown onto the ground, my hands tied behind my back and my feet bound. They used rope, probably because most everything else was wrecked in the crash. The effects of the EP gun slowly wore off and I was able to push myself into a sitting position. I glanced around and could see the others nearby. All of the Elemental Children, myself included, were paired up and placed around a large, stone circle. Jim was tied up as well, but was thrown off to the side and out of the way. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving at all. My eyes widened in fear and I looked at Gale.

"He's fine. Just unconscious," he answered under his breath. It sounded almost like a growl and his eyes showed anger.

"Where's Morph?" I asked.

"In my coat pocket." I glanced down and saw the little pink protoplasm peek out of my brother's pocket.

"Not yet, Morphy," I whispered. "Wait a minute first." He nodded and hid deeper into Gale's jacket.

"I hope this works," Gale mumbled.

"It's been working so far."

"Great gods of Ementia!" Pathos yelled, startling me. "I have gathered the children of your natural forces! Bring their gifts upon me!" He then turned to one of his crew members. "Get the Water children first."

"Now!" I yelled. All of us twisted to move off the stone platform. Morph then turned into a pair of scissors, slicing through our ropes one at a time. Gale was on his feet first and landed a forceful kick to a crew member's stomach. As the man hit the ground, I took the two guns from his belt and tossed one to Gale.

"Mine are better, but this'll work," he said and fired a shot at another man.

"Gale, start a fire over here!" Ebony yelled. My brother fired a couple of shots at some bushes, sparking a small fire. With a few motions of Ebony's hands, that small fire became a blazing inferno around her. I ran over to where Jim was still lying unconscious and shook his shoulder a few times.

"Jim, come on. You need to wake up," I cried over the sounds of battle. Ari had gotten his hand son a couple of guns and Griffin was sapping the energy out of every electronic device nearby. Jim slowly awoke, holding his head in his hand.

"What'd I miss?" he asked.

"Just the start of the fight. You weren't supposed to get knocked unconscious."

"Sometimes plans go astray."

"Shut up and fight," I answered with a smirk, handing him my gun.

"Get back here, you son of a jackal!" Gale yelled, stealing my attention. I glanced up to see him running after Pathos, who was fleeing the battlefield. Scowling, I chased after the two of them.

"Oh, no you don't! Not this time!"

"Ember, catch!" Ari called as I passed him, tossing a gun to me.

I gave him a two-finger salute in thanks and quickly caught up with my brother. I fired a shot a Pathos' feet, causing him to stumble to the ground. In the background, I could hear Ebony cry out in frustration and could feel her anger, even as far as I was from her. I glanced behind me and see the raging inferno she'd created, as well as a small-scale mushroom cloud. If only Pathos had been in the middle of that.

"You're not going anywhere, Pathos," Gale said darkly. His gun started humming, but he didn't shoot just yet. "But I want to make sure I get rid of you for good."

"Have fun trying, boy," Pathos spat. "I have the gift of Regeneration. You can tear me apart as much as you like. As long as a part of me remains, I'll come back."

"Gift? But you'd have to be-" I started.

"A Child of Earth. That's right. And unlike you, I'm much less vulnerable. All I have to do is kill one of you and I'm rid of the other."

"What?!"

"Didn't that Wind boy tell you? You and your brother are bonded. One dies, so does the other," Pathos answered.

"Then I'll make sure we're rid of you first," Gale answered and fired a shot into Pathos' chest. The lupine chuckled darkly.

"You don't listen, do you boy?"

"I can always weaken you first." I looked at Gale in surprise as he fired round after round at Pathos.

"Have you lost your every-loving mind?" I demanded. Why in the Etherium would he waste his fire on a man that wouldn't die by such means? My brother didn't bother to answer, but I saw it in his eyes. This was payback, avenging his mother's spirit. I grabbed his arm and pulled it back, causing him to fire into the air.

"Stop it, Gale! Your mother wouldn't want this!" I yelled. He pushed me away and glared at me.

"What do _you_ know?!" he demanded.

"What mother would want her son to live in hate?!" Gale's eyes widened as he stared at me. The hand holding his gun dropped, but he didn't release the weapon.

"Then what _should_ we do?" Gale asked. "We can't let him live to do this to more people."

"He won't, but this isn't the way to do it," I answered.

Another shot was fired but it wasn't from Gale or me. My brother slumped to the ground and I saw Pathos with a gun in his hand. It wasn't an EP gun. I cried out and shot the lupine pirate between the eyes, killing him for the time being. I knew he'd be back, but this bought me more time. Kneeling down beside Gale, I could see the blood darkening his already red shirt.

"And what was that?" he asked, referring to my shot.

"Buying time. Gale, stay awake! You hear me?!" His eyelids began to flutter a little and I slapped his cheek, only hard enough to keep him conscious. I could feel my own strength being sapped from me.

"You think Dad's really still alive?"

"He better be. And _you_ better not die on me!"

"We're going to find out now."

"We're not going to die! Not here, not now! Where's your fighting spirit?!"

"I had a feeling I'd die here, when we crash-landed, I just knew."

My eyes widened and tears spilled down my cheeks. Having Clairvoyance meant Gale was almost a hundred percent accurate with his predictions. I shook my head and pulled off my jacket, wrapping it around Gale's wound. I pressed down firmly to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it.

"You're wrong this time, Gale! I'll make sure of it!"

* * *

Griffin had followed after Gale and Ember, looking for a little more action. He wanted the pleasure of killing the man who'd put him through so much hell for the past months. Griffin hid in the foliage and heard everything Pathos had said. He also saw Pathos shoot Gale and Ember try to keep her brother alive.

"Fucking bastard," Griffin muttered as he ran back to get Nyssa.

* * *

Willow jumped as she heard a gunshot nearby. She and Nyssa were standing near each other, with Tobias fighting to keep any crew members away from them. She heard as Ember cried for her brother and screamed at him to stay conscious. Willow also heard as Griffin swore and ran towards where they were.

"Nyssa, Griffin's coming to get you. Go meet him. You have to save Gale, or he and Ember will die," she whispered. Nyssa nodded and ran to meet the male Child of Fire. Willow could only pray they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

**Yes, I have a bit of a cliff-hanger here. Like I said, I got all worked up writing this. Seriously, I was on the verge of tears by the time Gale said that thing about the feeling he got. Sol, I will tell you that this is NOT the thing I was talking about in that PM I sent you, so you don't have to worry about that... It'll be something else. Anyway, please R&R.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm back! Sorry this took so long, but I was bogged down with a ton of schoolwork. The fact that I wasn't allowed on the computer to put it up yesterday didn't help either. Anyway, the story has been finished, and I'm now uploading the next three chapters. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.**

* * *

"Ember… Come one, wake up," a voice said and I felt someone lightly slapping my cheek. The tone of voice sounded similar to how one would speak to a pet. I slowly opened my eyes to see Griffin. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty." He had a smirk on his features.

"Griffin?" I asked.

"Sleeping on the job? _Tsk, tsk, tsk._ I expected better from you, Ember." I blinked a few times in confusion. When had I fallen asleep? Then it all came back to me and I sat up straight, panicking.

"Gale!"

"Relax, he's alive. And so are you," Griffin answered, gesturing behind him. I looked to see Gale lying on his back with Nyssa healing him. He was still unconscious, but I could tell he was still breathing.

"And what about Pathos?" I asked.

"I've been keeping him shocked into a coma," Griffin answered dismissively. I moved to sit next to Gale, gently pushing his hair out of his face. He slowly opened his eyes and tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Those lying jerks… there's not tunnel," he said. I gave a watery laugh and hugged him tightly.

"Don't ever do that again," I cried.

"Alright. Note to self: Don't ever die."

"Good luck with that one," Griffin muttered. "You guys missed most of the fighting. Get up and we'll get your dad out of here." I nodded and helped Gale up before the four of us began running back to where the others were. When we arrived, I could see that very few men remained from Pathos' crew.

"What happened?" Jim asked when he saw me. He ran up and I wiped the tears that were still on my face.

"I'll tell you later. Let's go get my dad," I answered.

"Ebony, bring a couple sparks for light," Griffin said and she glared at him. She threw a fireball in his direction, but he jumped out of the way with a smirk.

"Cut it out!" Ari ordered. "We need to hurry up and get out of here!"

"Put your arguments aside until we're on Ember's ship," Tobias added.

"Fine, but then Griffin's dead," Ebony muttered and manipulated a few fireballs to float above her head. I rolled my eyes and we all stole the two longboats Pathos' crew had captured us in, starting back towards the _Aurum._

* * *

Once back inside the hull of Pathos' ship, we were forced to use Ebony's flames in order to have any visibility. There weren't any sounds, but for our footsteps. I didn't find that comforting in the least. It was just as silent when Gale and I had first snuck onto the ship.

"Morph," I whispered. "Go find Dad. Come back when you do and lead us to him." Morph saluted me and darted off, slipping between the cracks of the walls. We all stood in silence for a moment, not daring to move. Gale and I were constantly glancing around, trying to find danger.

"He found your father," Willow whispered, no doubt hearing Morph's happy chattering.

"Great. Can you tell how far away he is?" Gale asked.

"Not very far. Morph is on his way back." As if on cue, the little shape-shifter zipped in front of us, performing back flips in the air. He transformed into a miniature of my father, causing me to shudder at the sight of his frailty. Noticing this, Gale stepped forward.

"Take us to him," he ordered. Morph turned back into his usual form and started flying through the corridors. All nine of us ran after him, quickly finding Dad's cell. He looked even weaker than the last time I'd seen him. He was also more mangled, no doubt from the crash. Meltdown was dead the next time I saw him. I would personally make sure he never saw the light of day again.

"Dad," I hissed. "Dad, please wake up."

He slowly opened his eyes and looked up to see my probably frantic expression. I felt a hand lightly touch my arm, carefully pushing me away from the cell door. I looked behind me to see Tobias as he reached forward and easily ripped the door off its hinges. Once it was out of the way, Gale, Jim and I ran into the cell to help my dad. He smiled weakly at us and I had to fight back tears. None of his mechanical parts seemed to be functioning, even his right eye. His left eye had lost the spark I'd always seen when I was growing up, as though he was ready to give up on living. I couldn't count the bruises and scrapes that adorned my father and he seemed even thinner than before. I wondered if he was fed at all the entire time he was held captive. I brushed the tears from my eyes before then could be seen and helped him into an upright position. His laser tether shackles were off, just as mine had done.

"Ya both escaped?" Dad asked weakly.

"Of course we did. You know us," Gale answered and motioned for Tobias to enter the cell. "Tobias, we need you to carry him while we escape. He can't move on his own. The Child of Earth nodded silently and we helped him get my father onto his back. That was when Ari leaned into the cell, his head showing through the doorway.

"We've got a problem," he called, his voice sounding urgent.

I glanced at Jim and Gale with concern before running out into the hallway. Jim and my brother were right behind me. Standing before us, in front of the other Elemental Children, was a very muscular man with the features of a panther. He was wearing a pair of loose, tan pants and a red shirt, though he had nothing on his feet. I knew from experience that going barefoot made it easier to climb in the rigging. This man must have done so often, judging by the muscles built up in his legs. That put is at a great disadvantage for running away.

"Dammit," I muttered under my breath, staring into the panther's yellow eyes.

He scowled at me and I was suddenly paralyzed by fear, though I didn't understand why. I'd never seen this man, neigh… this monster, before in my life. Except… except for when Morph transformed to look just like him, back on Ethrum! That still didn't explain my fear of him, though. Glancing around me, I saw Gale frozen, just as I was. I realized he was the one I was picking up the fear from. Never before had I felt his, or anyone's, emotions so intensely. The scowl slowly disappeared from the panther's features, only to be replaced by a frightening smirk.

"The Hollow boy. I thought you'd left the night I disposed of your mother," he said.

His voice was a deep bass, but held a growl in it. I figured the growling undertones were because of his species and not any anger. I glanced between the two of them quickly, but Gale's rage didn't rise as I'd expected. Instead, he remained frozen. My own fear was growing. In the amount of time I'd known him, I'd never seen my brother like this.

"C-Charon," Gale whispered.

"Now, I'll finish what I started." Before he could take a step, Ebony threw a fireball at him, hitting his face.

"Don't even think about it," she warned darkly, two more fireballs floating above her.

"Ebony, make an exit," Ari ordered.

She nodded and threw another fireball at the wall, creating a large hole. Tobias ran through first with my dad on his back. I pushed Gale through our escape, causing him to stumble, and the others followed behind us. Running through the narrow corridors, I could hear more footsteps than I should have. There was more of Pathos' crew following us. We passed through a doorway and Griffin slammed it shut behind us. He then drew on the electricity around us and shot it around the edges of the door, sealing it shut. As I ran, I glanced back at him to see him just standing in front of the door.

"Griffin, move it!" I yelled as I stopped running. The others did as well, now that I'd drawn attention to the Child of Fire.

"Nah. You guys go on ahead," he answered over his shoulder, a smirk on his lips.

* * *

**Yes, that panther-dude was someone Gale knew. He didn't recognize him when Morph transformed into him because 1) the miniature was too small and 2) the miniature didn't bare fangs. So, yeah, there's that. And did you ever notice how all the bad guys have Greek names... Pathos is a Greek word and Charon was a Greek god, I believe... I'd have to check my book to double-check. Anyway, please R&R.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I'm going to tell you now, you should all listen to "Nearer My God To Thee" while you are reading this. I can't tell you what happens, though some of you probably already know.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. The MOST BASIC form of this idea comes from Swiftwings 13. Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

* * *

"What?!" Ebony demanded. She pushed forward through us and glared into Griffin's eyes. "Are you crazy?!" The rage emanating off her was potent and I felt as though it could physically knock me over.

"Come on. You don't think I can hold 'em off?" Griffin asked, that same smug look on his face.

"Griffin, stop it! This isn't the time to try and get an ego boost! This is suicide!" Ari yelled.

"You don't believe in me, Ari? That hurts." The tone in his voice made it sound like he was still joking around.

"We aren't leaving without you, Griffin," I answered. "I don't do that."

"You gotta get your dad outta here. I'll be fine. I'll pick of these bastards and be out in five minutes."

"Charon will kill you if you don't get out of here now!" Gale yelled. I could tell he still had fear of that panther.

"That son of a bitch doesn't stand a chance against me. I'll put him in a coma like I did Pathos," Griffin answered dismissively.

"Griffin," Nyssa whispered.

"I won't let you stay here to take them on alone!" Ari yelled.

"I'll be fine. Now hurry up and get out of here. Ember and Gale's dad is in pretty bad shape. You guys go on without me." Glancing back at my father, who was barely conscious on Tobias' back, I squeezed my eyes shut in displeasure of the decision that had to be made.

"We'll come back once we get Dad on our ship," I said sternly.

"Sure, sure. But don't expect me back right away. God knows I've hung out with you guys long enough. I don't think I can stand another minute. Besides, it'll give me some time away from Ari's fucking projectiles."

"Come back alive," Ari said. Griffin gave a thumbs-up and waved us off. Running out of the room, I could only feel the anxiety of everyone in our group, Griffin included.

* * *

As Griffin heard the others running out of the room, he didn't dare look back at them. It would break his concentration, his resolve. He knew something about this ship that the rest of them didn't. It was probably because of his Absorption. He could feel the electricity pulsing through the self-destruct mechanism of the ship. He knew about the device the day he awoke on that damned ship. The only reason he didn't set it off himself was because he knew it would kill not only himself, but the rest of the Elemental Children around him as well. His thoughts drifting to the others, Griffin couldn't help but utter a bitter laugh. Ebony would be pissed. Having been stuck in that cell for so long, they'd become close. He was her closest friend, really, and she his. They'd become like brother and sister, and bickered like it too. Griffin didn't want to think of how she'd be once this was over.

"Move it! They're getting away!" Pathos roared. Griffin could hear him clearly through the metal door.

"Looks like the coma's gone," he muttered, stretching his arms out as far as they'd go. He knew how to kill Pathos once and for all. He would have to destroy every single part of that bastard's body. Griffin knew jus the way to do it: A super-charged explosion, one that would take out half the planet. He could do it, using his control over electricity, but it wouldn't be pretty.

"Bust through that door _now_!" Pathos yelled. Again, Griffin uttered that bitter chuckle.

"Looks like this is it. Wonder how I'll be remembered." The door busted open and electricity flew from Griffin's hands. "Survive _this_, you son of a bitch!"

* * *

As soon as we were back on the _Argent,_ Willow covered her mouth with her hands and began crying.

"Griffin," she sobbed.

My body tensed for a second before I ran up to the deck of the ship. Just as the others came up behind me, there was a monstrous explosion. Even as far away from the planet as we were, I could feel the heat radiating from it. What was left was only about half the planet. How had Griffin managed to do that? There was no way he could have survived. As that thought struck me, I covered my mouth with my hand and leaned on the edge of the ship for support.

"No," I whispered. Griffin was gone, sacrificing himself for the rest of us.

"Griffin!" Ebony screamed, leaning past the side of the ship. Ari grabbed her arm to keep her from falling overboard. "Come back, you bastard! You're not supposed to go like this!"

She fell to the floor, crying hysterically. Willow cried into Tobias' chest. Though he was still carrying my father on his back, he managed to wrap a comforting arm around her. Nyssa walked over and hugged Ebony as they both sobbed. I brushed away the tears forming in my eyes and remembered a time from when I was on the _RLS Legacy_. Captain Amelia had given a short speech for Mr. Arrow after his death. Griffin deserved at least that.

"Griffin was a… a strong young man, more so than many his age. He gave his life in order to save us, knowing fully the cost involved," I started, but found myself choking up. As I tried to compose myself, Gale stepped forward.

"Griffin did what he knew he had to. He wanted our safety and knew the price was his life. He obviously thought it was worth it. He earned my respect." I glanced at my brother and gave him a small smile. Gale didn't trust easily, nor did he respect easily. We were much alike in that aspect, along with our stubborn nature.

"Mine too," I added, running up to the bridge. I found my helmsman standing at his post, awaiting orders. "Mr. Philps, take us out of here."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," he answered with a salute and we began sailing away.

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**UGH! I feel so terrible for doing that, but it works so well! This is thing I had volleyballwb9 help me with because she's a tragic genius... and a torture scene genius, but let's not get into that one... Anyway, hope I didn't ruin everyone's day with that one. Please R&R.**


	19. Epilogue

**Yes, it's the final chapter. I'd like to take this time to thank everyone who's read it up to this point. It really means a lot to me. And thanks to Sol for letting me use his character for my story. It made it all that much more awesome!**

**Disclaimer (For the final time in this story): I don't own Treasure Planet or any of the characters. Swiftwings13 gave me the most basic form of the idea for a plot. Gale Hollow belongs to Solaris Prime.**

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It had been a month since we'd returned to Montressor, two months since the explosion. We'd done a proper ceremony for Griffin aboard the ship on the voyage back. Needless to say, Sarah was shocked when we returned with everyone, especially my newly-found brother. Nonetheless, she welcomed him and our friends, allowing them all to stay at the Benbow Inn. Gale and our father decided to take my offer to stay with Jim and me at our home up the road. Dad fully healed, though we needed to fix his mechanical parts, and soon became like his old self again, both in body and spirit. Now, everyone was going their separate ways. Ari and Nyssa were returning home to their family, Tobias and Willow had fallen in love with each other on the _Aurum_ and were going to start a life together, and Ebony simply left one day. She'd left a note, thanking us for everything and letting us know she was going to be traveling around the Etherium to spread our story to everyone. She felt like Griffin's death shouldn't go unnoticed, and she was going to make sure of it. Dad said his goodbyes as well, telling Gale and me how proud he was of us. We'd found each other, learned to trust each other, and saved him along with many other people. That left Gale. He'd stuck around for a while, getting to know the life I led, what I'd done. But I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to travel, and nothing could keep him in one place too long. I found him up on the roof of the house, staring up at the night sky. The stars lit brightly, becoming tiny gems in a blanket of darkness.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, sitting next to my brother.

"That it is, but I get the feeling you came to talk about more than just the view," he answered with a smirk. I chuckled, remembered the argument that had ensued the last time a conversation started like this.

"Right. Listen, Gale… We're both souls of the Etherium, free-spirited and willing to go wherever the winds take us. But a soul can't soar if its heart is grounded. My place is on Montressor, Gale. And yours… well, yours in on a ship, sailing the skies. I'll miss you, Wind. Just don't forget about us." Gale looked at me and smiled.

"Like I could forget _you_, Em." He ruffled my hair, like one would expect of an older brother. I laughed, lightly slapping his hand away, and hugged him.

"Just make sure you come and visit every once in a while. After all, you're going to be an uncle soon." Gale raised an eyebrow at me.

"Really now?"

"I haven't told Jim yet. I want to surprise him."

"Congrats, Em. You'll do great," Gale said, smiling at me. There was silence between us as we stared up at the sky.

"I want to name her Siren," I finally said.

"What?" My brother was obviously surprised.

"If it's a girl, I want to name her Siren, in honor of your mother."

"And if it's a boy?" I smiled up at him.

"Then I'll let Jim decide, but I get the feeling it'll be a girl."

"Thanks, Ember. That means a lot." I leaned back on the roof, staring up at the night sky with a smile on my face. Unlocking the secrets of the keepsake from my father was definitely among the best things to ever happen to me. It led me to my brother.

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**Yes, I had to end it on a cute note... I couldn't resist. Anyway, here's to hoping people liked the sequel just as much (if not more) than the first story. Please R&R.**


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